Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having the property of altering or changing something, especially in a gradual or restorative way. In medical or therapeutic contexts, it describes something that tends to restore healthy bodily function or nutrition.

Usage

• The term is primarily used in medical, therapeutic, or historical contexts to describe treatments, agents, or regimens that aim to correct or restore health by altering bodily processes.
• It is a formal and somewhat archaic term, more commonly found in older medical literature or discussions of traditional medicine.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The physician prescribed an alterative regimen to improve the patient's constitution.
  • Certain herbs are considered alterative because they help purify the blood.

Advanced Usage

• "alterative treatment": A therapeutic approach designed to gradually restore health by altering bodily functions or correcting nutritional imbalances.
  • In the 19th century, alterative treatments were common for chronic conditions.

Variants and Related Words

• Alter (verb): To change or make different.
  • The landscape was altered by the new construction.
• Alteration (noun): The act or process of altering; a change.
  • The dress needed a minor alteration.

Synonyms

• Curative: Having the ability to cure or heal.
• Therapeutic: Relating to the treatment of disease or disorders.
• Restorative: Having the power to restore health or strength.
• Sanative: Conducive to healing.

Notes on Meaning

• While the core meaning relates to causing change, in its specific historical and medical sense, "alterative" implies a beneficial change toward health. It is not a general synonym for "changing" in modern everyday English.

Adjective

1. tending to cure or restore to health
   • curative powers of herbal remedies
   • her gentle healing hand
   • remedial surgery
   • a sanative environment of mountains and fresh air
   • a therapeutic agent
   • therapeutic diets