Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Officinal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Officinal \Of*fic"i*nal\, a. [F., fr. L. officina a workshop,
contr.fr. opificina, fr. opifex a workman; opus work + facere
to make or do.]
1. Used in a shop, or belonging to it. [Obs. or R.]
--Johnson.
2. (Pharm.) Kept in stock by apothecaries; -- said of such
drugs and medicines as may be obtained without special
preparation or compounding; not magistral.
Note: This term is often interchanged with official, but in
strict use officinal drugs are not necessarily
official. See {Official}, a., 3.
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