A substance or medicine that has a calming or soothing effect on the mind or body.
From Latin 'calmare' (to calm) plus the suffix '-ative' (producing or causing a particular effect). This formed in English to describe remedies that produce calmness.
Before modern pharmaceuticals, calmatives were herbals—chamomile, valerian, and laudanum were the go-to calmatives for anxious patients, and some people still prefer these 'natural' options over prescription alternatives.
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