officinal

adjective

1. kept in stock by apothecaries, as a drug.Compare magistral(def 1).
2. recognized by a pharmacopoeia.

noun

3. an officinal medicine.

adjective

1. (of pharmaceutical products) available without prescription
2. (of a plant) having pharmacological properties

noun

3. an officinal preparation or plant

adj.“kept in stock by a druggist,” c.1720, from French officinal, from Medieval Latin officinalis, literally “of or belonging in an officina,” a storeroom (of a monastery) for medicines and necessaries, in classical Latin “workshop, manufactory, laboratory,” contraction of *opificina, from opifex (genitive opificis) “worker, workman, maker, doer” (from opus “work;” see opus) + -fex, -ficis “one who does,” from facere “do, perform” (see factitious). Related: Officinally. adj.

1. Readily available in pharmacies; not requiring special preparation.
2. Recognized by a pharmacopoeia.

n.

1. An official drug.