A nerve tonic, a medicine that acts therapeutically upon the nerves, particularly in the sense of a sedative that serves to calm ruffled nerves.
The word nervine comes from the Latin nervinus, belonging to a sinew. Nervine travelled across the Channel from France to 17th-century England. There it was first applied to the sinews. That is not illogical because the Latin nervinus derives from nervus meaning "a sinew, tendon, thong, string (as a bowstring), or wire." In ancient anatomy the Romans (and Greeks) did not distinguish between and tendons and nerves. The name "nervus" referred to any white cordlike structure, whether it be a band of connective tissue or a fiber in the nervous system.
(I must admit I did not know the word "nervine" myself. I came upon it in a diabolically difficult Saturday New York Times crossword -- they get progressively harder fro Monday to Saturday. The clue was "Soothing medicine." There were 7 spaces to be filled. The answer proved to be NERVINE. I found it was not in most standard desktop dictionaries nor in many medical dictionaries. -- Editor)
medical
dictionary, online medical dictionary, medical
terminology dictionary, free online medical
dictionary, medical dictionary, online medical
dictionary, medical terminology dictionary, free
online medical dictionary, dictionary medical,
dictionary medical online, dictionary medical
terminology, dictionary free medical online,
dictionary free medical, dictionary medical
terms, dictionary drug medical medicine,
dictionary health illustrated medical nursing
profession stedmans, dictionary English medical,
dictionary medical online terminology,
dictionary encyclopedia medical online,
condition dictionary medical, dictionary
medical, dictionary drug medical, medical
dictionary software, cyclopedic dictionary index
medical tabers thumb, medical dictionary, online
medical dictionary, medical terminology
dictionary
