Adjective

herbal

1. Made from or with herbs.

   Herbal tea has a nice aroma and is good for a stuffy head.

2. Made from natural herbs specifically as opposed to from synthetic materials.

   People think herbal supplements are safer because they are natural.

Derived terms

• herbal body wrap
• herbal medicine
• herbal tea
• herbal wrap

Noun

Singular herbal

Plural herbals

herbal (plural herbals)

1. A manual of herbs and their medical uses
   • 2005 January 7, Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”, Chicago Reader:

     It can still be found in herbals and such, which describe it as a sedative and cough suppressant.

2. An herbal supplement
   • 2003 March 7, Jeffrey Felshman, “The Killer Inside Me”, Chicago Reader:

     I took a ride to the shopping strip at Belmont and Central and stocked up on herbals at three Polish New Age health stores.

A(n) herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their virtues (properties) — and in particular their medicinal, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or magical powers, and the legends associated with them. A herbal may also classify the plants by various criteria, may give recipes for herbal extracts, tinctures, or potions, and sometimes include mineral and animal medicaments in addition to those obtained from plants. Herbals were often illustrated to assist plant identification. The word herbal is derived from the mediaeval Latin liber herbalis ("book of herbs"); the word is sometimes used in contrast to the word florilegium which is a treatise on flowers with emphasis on their beauty and enjoyment rather than their utility.

Herbals were among the first literature produced in Ancient Egypt, China, India, and Europe. Their useful content and accessible format made them attractive to general readers, as well as to herbalists, apothecaries and physicians. In the Western European Age of Discovery herbals were produced, either by Europeans or indigenous people, for the Americas, Africa, and other lands newly discovered by Europeans. Herbals were among the first books to be printed in both China and Europe. In Western Europe herbals flourished during the two centuries after the invention of moveable type (c. 1470–1670).

Starting in the late 17th century, the rise of modern chemistry, toxicology and pharmacology largely made the classical herbals obsolete as a medical resource. As reference manuals for botanical study and indentification of plants, herbals were supplanted by the Floras — systematic surveys of the plants found growing in a particular region, with scientifically accurate botanical descriptions, classification, and illustrations. Herbals have seen a modest revival in the western world since the last decades of the 20th century, as herbalism and related disciplines (such as homeopathy and aromatherapy) became popular as forms of complementary and alternative medicine.