Officinal

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: of=fic=i=nal

CIDE DICTIONARY

Officinal, a. [F., fr. L. officina a workshop, contr. fr. opificina, fr. opifex a workman; opus work + facere to make or do.].

•  Used in a shop, or belonging to it.  Johnson.  [1913 Webster]
•  Kept in stock by apothecaries; -- said of such drugs and medicines as may be obtained without special preparation or compounding; not magistral.  [1913 Webster]

  " This term is often interchanged with official, but in strict use officinal drugs are not necessarily official. See Official, a., 3."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Officinal, adj.
1 a (of a medicine) kept ready for immediate dispensing. b made from the pharmacopoeia recipe (cf. MAGISTRAL). c (of a name) adopted in the pharmacopoeia.
2 (of a herb or drug) used in medicine.

Derivative

officinally adv.

Etymology

med.L officinalis f. L officina workshop