What does "alterative" mean?
Alterative: Causing ateration. Specifically: Gradually changing, or tending to change, a morbid state of the functions into one of health. Burton.
Additional senses
- 2.A medicine or treatment which gradually induces a change, and restores healthy functions without sensible evacuations.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00