restorative

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English restoratif, also restauratif.^[2][3][4] The revised OED takes it as formed from English restore + -ative, after Anglo-Norman restauratif and Middle French restauratif and their source, Medieval Latin restaurativus;^[5] Etymonline, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English derive it instead from Old French restoratif, a variant of restauratif,^[6][7][8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged from the French form, altered under the influence of restore.^[4] The French adjective is formed from the past participle of Latin restaurō (“to restore”), the source of restore, with the suffix -if.^[4][9] The Anglo-Norman form restoratif is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century.^[10] The noun is the adjective used as a noun,^[4][6] perhaps after restaurativum (“a restorative”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to restore strength or health: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, of medicines that restore the spirits.^[5][2] The Middle English Dictionary files Gower's restauratif (before 1393) under the same word.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a food, cordial or medicine that brings back health or strength, is recorded from before 1439, in Lydgate's Fall of Princes,^[5] and Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave both the adjective, "that which has the power to recruit life", quoting Milton, and the noun.^[11] A more specific sense, a remedy that brings a person back to consciousness, is recorded from 1825 but is now rare.^[5] The adjective took on a technical sense in dentistry, of the restoration of teeth, from 1859.^[5][7] Senses such as restitution or repayment (about 1500) and nourishing power (1528–1616) have died out.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1398 – adjective, tending to restore strength or health.^[5][2]
• before 1439 – noun, a food, cordial or medicine that restores health or strength.^[5]
• c. 1500 – noun, restitution, repayment (obsolete).^[5]
• 1825 – noun, a remedy to restore a person to consciousness.^[5]
• 1859 – adjective, in dentistry, used in restoring teeth.^[5][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to restore health, strength or spirits; reviving: a restorative night's sleep.^[12][4][13]
2. Of or relating to restoration.^[4][13]
3. (dentistry) Relating to or used in the restoration of teeth.^[5][7]

Noun

1. Something that restores, especially a food, drink or medicine that brings back health or strength: After the hike, hot soup was the best restorative.^[12][4][5]
2. Something that brings a person back to consciousness.^[4][13][5]

Word family

• restoratively
• restorativeness
• unrestorative

Related words

• restore
• restoration
• restaurant

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. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin