Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Alterative

Alterative ({not transcribed}) , adjective

[Latin alterativus: compare French altératif.]

Causing ateration.
Gradually changing, or tending to change, a morbid state of the functions into one of health. — Burton

Alterative , noun

A medicine or treatment which gradually induces a change, and restores healthy functions without sensible evacuations.