medicinal

See also: médicinal

English

Alternative forms

• medcinal (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin medicīnālis. By surface analysis, medicine +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /məˈdɪ.sɪ.nəl/, /-sə-/, /məˈdɪs.nəl/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.ɖɪ.sə.nəl/, /ˈmɛ.ɖɪs.nəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: me‧dic‧i‧nal

Adjective

medicinal (not comparable)

1. Having the properties of medicine, or pertaining to medicine; medical.
2. Tending or used to cure disease or relieve pain.
   • 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Amanita jatanum, Elaaden:

     Though not poisonous, this mildly psychoactive mushroom has valuable medicinal properties. Extracted agents could be used to enhance medi-gels pain-reducing capabilities.

   • 2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56:

     The town [Cheltenham] "is celebrated for its medicinal waters" and "has been for the last sixty years one of the most elegant and fashionable watering places in England".

3. Tasting like medicine; particularly of unpleasant or artificially sweet or bitter flavours.

Derived terms

• biomedicinal
• ethnomedicinal
• medicinal chemistry
• medicinal finger
• medicinally
• nonmedicinal
• phytomedicinal
• semimedicinal
• telemedicinal
• unmedicinal

Related terms

• medical
• medication
• medicational
• medicine

Translations

of or pertaining to medicine

• Dutch: medicinaal (nl)
• Finnish: lääkemäinen, lääke- (fi)
• Galician: medicinal (gl)
• German: Medizin-
• Kazakh: дәрілік (därılık)
• Polish: lekowy (pl)
• Russian: медицинский (ru) (medicinskij)

tending to cure disease

• Arabic: عِلَاجِيّ (ʕilājiyy)
• Armenian: բուժիչ (hy) (bužičʻ), բուժական (hy) (bužakan)
• Bulgarian: целебен (bg) (celeben)
• Catalan: medicinal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藥 / 药 (zh), 藥材 / 药材 (zh) (yàocái), 藥物 / 药物 (zh) (yàowù)

• Dutch: geneeskrachtig (nl), genezend (nl)
• Finnish: parantava (fi)
• French: médicinal (fr), médicamenteux (fr)
• Galician: medicinal (gl)
• German: medikamentös (de), medizinal, medizinisch (de), Arznei- (de), Heil- (de)
• Hungarian: gyógyító (hu), gyógyhatású (hu), gyógy- (hu)
• Italian: medicamentoso (it) m, medicinale (it)
• Malayalam: ഔഷധ (ml) (auṣadha)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: medisinsk

  Nynorsk: medisinsk

• Polish: leczniczy (pl)
• Romanian: medicinal (ro), vindecător (ro)
• Russian: лека́рственный (ru) (lekárstvennyj), лече́бный (ru) (lečébnyj), медици́нский (ru) (medicínskij)
• Spanish: medicinal (es), medicamentoso (es)
• Turkish: ilaç özelliği olan, iyileştirici, müsekkin (tr), teskin edici, tedavi edici

tasting like medicine

• Finnish: lääkkeen makuinen
• German: medizinisch (slightly derogative)
• Polish: o smaku lekarstwa

Noun

medicinal (plural medicinals)

1. Any plant that can be used for medicinal purposes.

Translations

plant used medicinally

• Finnish: lääkekasvi (fi)
• Galician: planta medicinal f
• German: Heilpflanze (de) f, Arzneipflanze (de) f
• Polish: zioło (pl) n
• Portuguese: planta medicinal f
• Spanish: planta medicinal f

See also

• salutary

Further reading

• “medicinal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “medicinal, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• adminicle, miniclade

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin medicīnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mə.ði.siˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [me.ði.siˈnal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

medicinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural medicinals)

1. medicinal (of or pertaining to medicine)

Related terms

• mèdic
• medicina

Further reading

• “medicinal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “medicinal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “medicinal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “medicinal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin medicīnālis. By surface analysis, medicina +‎ -al.

Adjective

medicinal m or f (plural medicinais)

1. medicinal (of or pertaining to medicine)

Derived terms

• medicinalmente

Related terms

• medicina
• médico

Further reading

• “medicinal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin medicīnālis. By surface analysis, medicina +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /me.d͡ʒi.siˈnaw/ [me.d͡ʒi.siˈnaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨ.di.siˈnal/ [mɨ.ði.siˈnaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨ.di.siˈnal/ [mɨ.ði.siˈnaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨ.di.siˈna.li/ [mɨ.ði.siˈna.li]

• Hyphenation: me‧di‧ci‧nal

Adjective

medicinal m or f (plural medicinais)

1. medicinal (of or pertaining to medicine)

Derived terms

• medicinalmente

Related terms

• medicina
• médico

Further reading

• “medicinal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “medicinal”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “medicinal”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “medicinal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French médicinal, from Latin medicīnālis. By surface analysis, medicină +‎ -al.

Adjective

medicinal m or n (feminine singular medicinală, masculine plural medicinali, feminine/neuter plural medicinale)

1. medicinal (of or pertaining to medicine)

Declension

Declension of medicinal

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	medicinal		medicinală		medicinali	medicinale
	definite	medicinalul		medicinala		medicinalii	medicinalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	medicinal		medicinale		medicinali	medicinale
	definite	medicinalului		medicinalei		medicinalilor	medicinalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin medicīnālis. By surface analysis, medicina +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mediθiˈnal/ [me.ð̞i.θiˈnal] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /medisiˈnal/ [me.ð̞i.siˈnal] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: me‧di‧ci‧nal

Adjective

medicinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural medicinales)

1. medicinal (of or pertaining to medicine)

Derived terms

• cantárida medicinal
• medicinalmente

Related terms

• medicamentoso
• medicina
• médico

Further reading

• “medicinal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025