vulnerary

1 of 2

adjective

vul·​ner·​ary ˈvəl-nə-ˌrer-ē 

: used for or useful in healing wounds

vulnerary plants

vulnerary

2 of 2

noun

plural vulneraries

: a vulnerary remedy

Did you know?

In Latin, vulnus means "wound." You might think, then, that the English adjective vulnerary would mean "wounding" or "causing a wound"—and, indeed, vulnerary has been used that way, along with two obsolete adjectives, vulnerative and vulnific. But for the lasting and current use of vulnerary, we took our cue from the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder. In his Natural History, he used the Latin adjective vulnerarius to describe a plaster, or dressing, for healing wounds. And that's fine—the suffix -ary merely indicates that there is a connection, which, in this case, is to wounds. (As you may have already suspected, vulnerable is related; it comes from the Latin verb vulnerare, which means "to wound.")

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Latin vulnerarius, from vulner-, vulnus

First Known Use

Adjective

1599, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1601, in the meaning defined above

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Medical Definition

vulnerary

1 of 2 adjective

vul·​ner·​ary ˈvəl-nə-ˌrer-ē 

: used for or useful in healing wounds

vulnerary plants

vulnerary

2 of 2 noun

plural vulneraries

: a vulnerary remedy