Officinal

Image:Pulmonaria officinalis 800.jpg

Officinal is a term applied in medicineto drugs, plantsand herbs, which are sold in a chemistor druggistshop, and to medical preparations of such drugs, et cetera, as are made in accordance with the prescriptionsauthorized by the pharmacopoeia. In the latter sense, modern usage tends to supersede "officinal" by "official". The classical Latinofficina meant a workshop, manufactory, laboratory, and in medieval Latinwas applied to a general storeroom. It thus became applied to a shop where goods were sold rather than a place where things were made.

In botanical nomenclature, the specific epithetofficinalis derives from a plant's historical use in pharmacology.

See also

• Herbalism

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officinal Wikipedia article Officinal.