herbalist:

(also called ‘herb doctor‘; plural: ‘herbalists‘; for the right pronunciation, please click here)

‘herbs’ = any of several kinds of plants or plant parts which are used in making traditional medicine

a Chinese herbalist at his dispensary

a person who grows, collects and/or sells herbs;

a herb doctor (a medicine man/woman who treats patients using herbs, usually as a family tradition);

(old usage) a botanist (a person who studies and so knows about botany — the plants and plant life),

a Canadian herbalist collecting herbs for her patients

e.g.

Ms Changying is a herbalist who treats any ailment with the herbs she has in her numerous bottles and boxes, and as she demands very little fee for her herbs, most of her patients are happy with her treatment and pay her without feeling a pinch.

The ancient practice of using plants and vegetables in the treatment of diseases is making a come back as more and more people are leaving the allopathic treatment in which synthetic drugs are used to cure diseases and are going for alternative medicine or naturopathic treatments, especially to the herbalists as there is little or no side-effects in using herbal medicines.

Taking advantage of the peoples’ belief in herbal treatment, several herbalists have claimed to have a cure for cancer and HIV AIDS and made a lot of money, especially in Africa and Asia.

Recognising the potential in the herbal medicine treatment, several institutions in Canada and the USA, online and live, have started giving special courses for those who are interested in herbal medicine and, in response, many candidates have begun to take courses, who on completion of their courses, are called herbalists or herb doctors who can get themselves registered in the Herbalists’ Guilds or Herbalists’ Associations, and are then eligible to treat patients.

For an informative article that explains what a herbalist is, please click here, if you are interested in becoming a herbalist, please click here, for an article about licensed herbalists, please click here, and for an interesting article about the Chinese herbalists in Singapore, please click here .

Language Usage: While reading the articles written by different authors in which you may have noticed that some of them using the article ‘a’ and some others using the article ‘an’ before “herbal” and “herbalist”. This may cause some confusion to the learner, but there is nothing to worry about. As is the case with the word ‘hotel’ which takes ‘a’ and ‘an’ depending on how it is said, this word also takes ‘a’ and ‘an’. If you pronounce the sound of the letter ‘h’, use ‘a’ and if you do not, just use ‘an’. As I, the complier, use the sound of the letter ‘h’ in “herbalist” and “herbal”, I use ‘a’ before these words.