Meanings
plural alteratives
- historicalmedicineA medicine or treatment which works by changing processes within the body, rather than by evacuating something etc.First known use 14th c.
Amongst this number of cordials and alteratives I do not find a more present remedy than a cup of wine or strong drink, if it be soberly and opportunely used.
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 5, member 1, subsection v
comparative more alterative · superlative most alterative
- Causing alteration.
- medicineGradually changing, or tending to change, a morbid state into a healthy one.First known use 15th c.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivetending to cure or restore to health
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinalterativum
- Englishalterative
From Latin alterativum, noun use of alterativus.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French altérateur
- altérateurcausing alteration
Italian alterativo
- alterativocausing alteration
Portuguese alterativo, alterante
- alterativocausing alteration
- alterantecausing alteration
- alteradorcausing alteration
Cite this entry
alterative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alterative
“alterative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alterative. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alterative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alterative.
Source: alterative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.