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herbalist

herbalist

9 5.5
A person who uses plants to make medicine for health
  • noun
  • /ˈhɜrbəlɪst/
translation icon : herbolario
  • The herbalist prepared a special mixture using herbs to help relieve my symptoms.
  • herbalist and healer
  • Traditional herbalists

First sign of a cold and I'm suddenly becoming like a backyard herbalist.

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Examples

  • As doctors and herbalists have long known, what is toxic in one context may be curative in another.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The author of the story is personally involved with a traditional healer and herbalist.

    Academic text (1996)
  • We'll go see the herbalist tomorrow.

  • My herbalist gave them to me.

  • We learned it from the herbalist.

  • - You've got an herbalist?

  • Every month he has at least two doctor's appointments, along with visits to an herbalist and an acupuncturist.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • We stayed at the home of Mr. Ngobe, a herbalist of high renown, a man whom I have known for some years.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Many herbalist medicines are dried and prepared either steeped or cooked slowly.

    Academic text (1999)
  • In the mid-1600s, for example, the herbalist Nicholas Culpeper recommended foxglove for treating epilepsy.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

herb doctor
vsherbalist
6.8

A person who uses plant medicines to treat illnesses

is broader, covering general healing and plant use beyond formal illness treatment
herbwoman
vsherbalist
  • Archaic
9.5

A woman who gathers, uses, or sells plants to make medicines

is a medical practitioner who treats patients rather than selling or gathering plants

How Qualified

specialist
120 3.9
doctor
1.0
hakim
  • Specialized
2 9.9
healer
101 3.9
herbalist
9 5.5

Surface Forms

herbalist singular
herbalists plural

Morphology

herbalist = herbal (transparent) = herb + al + ist

The word is formed from the adjective 'herbal' (relating to herbs) plus the agentive suffix '-ist', giving a clear meaning 'a person who works with herbs'.

Etymology

Herbalist comes from the word herb, meaning 'plant used for medicine or cooking', plus the ending -ist that means 'a person who does something'. So a herbalist is a person who uses plants to heal and make remedies.