alimentous

English

Etymology

From aliment +‎ -ous.

Adjective

alimentous (comparative more alimentous, superlative most alimentous)

1. (obsolete) Nourishing; nutritional.
   • 1662, Henry Stubbe, The Indian Nectar, Or a Discourse Concerning Chocolata, pages 77- 78:

     The former may ground their Opinion upon what I have said of the Cacao Nut; whose virtues and nature being known, we cannot ignore the nature and effects of the plain simple Chocolata, such as alone hat the commendation of the Indian Experience for so many years: it being made up of nothing but Cacao-Nuts, and Pocholt-grain (which I suppose to be all one with the Paniso ) incorporated; and in time of use it was dissolved in Atolle, ( which what it is I have already told ) and that this was refrigerating, and very alimentous, is undubitable.

   • 1860, Michael George Duignan, Positive Facts, Without a Shadow of Doubt, page 339:

     There are also occult qualities belonging to the alimentous, which are introduced into the aliment by the common workhouses, and by the parts to be nourished (although no man hath yet found them out), and therefore they may on that account also be called alimentous.

   • 1886, John Macpherson, Bath, Contrexéville and the Lime Sulphated Waters, page 31:

     This simple alimentous medicine being liberally taken , ( for it should be used instead of all other drinks while the disease continues ) has been very frequently found to cure fluxes not all of one sort in Ireland itself , where that kind of disease is endemic.

   • 2014, E. C. Spary, Feeding France: New Sciences of Food, 1760–1815, page 90:

     Venal and others argued that the alimentous substance was already present in foods, and digestion was only a processs of selctive removal through a series of chemical solvents, the digestive juices, often represented as having a 'soapy' quality.

Anagrams

• emulations