Etymologically
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digestive

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /daɪˈdʒɛstɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English digestif,[2] borrowed from Old French digestif,[3][4][5][6][7] also directly borrowed from Late Latin dīgestīvus (“pertaining to digestion”),[4][5][8][6] formed from dīgestus, the past participle of dīgerō (“to separate, divide, arrange; to digest”), and -īvus.[8][3][9] The Latin verb comes from dis- (“apart”) and gerō (“to carry”).[4] The Anglo-Norman word, used of digestion and of an aid to digestion, is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century.[10] The noun came first in English, as a shortening of a French phrase meaning digestive medicine.[4] The word is related to digest.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A medicine that aids digestion: about 1386, in Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, which has the plural digestyves.[3][11][4] Medieval surgery also used the word for a medicine that breaks down diseased matter for removal.[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is recorded from the early 15th century, of digestion and of what promotes it;[4][2] the OED's first quotations for these senses are from 1528 and about 1533.[3] In old surgery a digestive was also an ointment that promoted healthy suppuration in a wound (1543),[3][8] and in alchemy an agent of chemical digestion (1477).[3] Johnson (1755) gave the senses "having the power to cause digestion" and "capable by heat to soften".[12] The digestive biscuit, a wholemeal biscuit, is recorded from 1876, and is often called simply a digestive in Britain.[3][13][8] The word was also used of the digestion of insectivorous plants (Darwin, 1875).[3] The French form digestif, for an after-dinner drink, is attested in English from 1908.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – noun, a medicine that aids digestion.[3][11]
  • early 15th century – adjective, of or promoting digestion.[4][2]
  • 1477 – an agent of chemical digestion (obsolete).[3]
  • 1543 – an ointment promoting suppuration.[3]
  • 1876 – the digestive biscuit.[3]
  • 1908 – digestif, an after-dinner drink.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or serving for digestion: the digestive tract.[13][8][3]
  2. Aiding or promoting digestion.[8][3][13]

Noun

  1. (British) A slightly sweet wholemeal biscuit; a digestive biscuit.[13][8][3]
  2. A food or drug that aids digestion.[8][3]
  3. (archaic) A substance that promotes suppuration in a wound.[8][3]

Word family

  • digestively
  • digestiveness
  • nondigestive
  • postdigestive
  • digestive system
  • digestive tract

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins