Causing or producing gradual change or improvement, especially in health or medicine.
From medieval Latin alterativus, from alterare (to alter). In medicine, this term described substances believed to alter bodily conditions over time rather than providing immediate relief, dating back to Galen and Hippocratic theory.
Before modern medicine, doctors divided remedies into 'acute' (fast-acting) and 'alterative' (slow-acting). Alterative medicines were supposed to gradually rebalance your four humors—herbs like bloodroot were famous as alteratives!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.