Herbal terminology can be a little tricky sometimes, in its precision — or lack thereof.  Certain words have both broad uses and narrower uses, and if you aren’t sure which way a speaker/writer intends his use of the word, you might have to do a little poking around to make sure you’re on the same page.  A couple examples that immediately come to mind are “emmenagogues” and “laxatives.”

Emmenagogues

The term “emmenagogue” is sometimes used in a broad sense to describe herbs that have an impact on the female reproductive system in any way.  More specifically, an emmenagogue is an herb that promotes menstruation.  This difference is significant when we need to know which herbs are safe for use during pregnancy.  Often we’re told that something is dangerous during pregnancy because it’s an “emmenagogue” when sometimes the herb is actually beneficial.  This comes down to the understanding of whether the term is being used in the broad or the narrow sense, as well as how, specifically, the herb does what it does.  (Some herbs stimulate body systems, while others normalize body systems.)

Laxatives

Similarly, “laxative” often refers to any herb that encourages the movement of the bowels and/or speeds up transit times.  However, it’s also used in a narrower sense to indicate a sub-category of herbs with a particular strength.

Laxatives (in the general sense) can be subdivided based on their severity/strength, with aperients/laxatives (in the specific sense) being the gentlest and drastics (short for “drastic purgatives”) being the strongest.  Cathartics (or simple purgatives) are somewhere in between.

When most people recommend “laxatives,” they are actually suggesting these stronger options.  That isn’t always a bad thing, but it needs to be understood in context.  Small children, the elderly, or those with weak constitutions should generally not use these stronger purgatives.  And purgatives are harsher on the system, so they’re better balanced with other herbs that are strengthening, supportive, and soothing.  But you may not realize this if you don’t understand that the individual is using the word “laxative” in the general sense, rather than its more specific sense.

Keeping it Straight

If you aren’t familiar with the person making recommendations, one way to ensure that you’re on the same page is to ask him to define his terms.  We may not all word our definitions the same way, but hearing a person’s working definition can help clarify how specific or non-specific he’s being.