Vulnerary

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈvÊŒl.nəɹ.əɹ.i/
• US IPA: /ˈvÊŒl.nÉš.ɛɹ.i/

Origin

From Latin vulnerārius, from vulnus ("wound").

Full definition of vulnerary

Adjective

1. Useful or used for healing wounds; healing, curative.
• 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:Rebecca examined the wound, and having applied to it such vulnerary remedies as her art prescribed, informed her father that ... there was nothing to fear for his guest’s life.
• 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 422 (footnote):Take, for example, the famous vulnerary ointment attributed to Paracelsus.
2. (archaic, rare) Causing wounds, wounding.

Usage notes

Restricted in modern use primarily to works on ethnobotany and traditional medicine.

Noun

1. A healing drug or other agent used in healing and treating wounds.