Cordial (medicine)

This article is about medicinal cordials. For other uses, see Cordial (disambiguation).
Old apothecary bottles of the kind once used for cordials.
Air twist cordial glass c. 1750

A cordial is any invigorating and stimulating preparation that is intended for a medicinal purpose. The term derives from an obsolete usage. Various concoctions were formerly created that were believed to be beneficial to one's health, especially for the heart (cor in Latin).[1]

Some cordials, with their flecks of gold leaf and bright yellow hue, took their name from the "cordial virtues" of the rays of the sun, which some alchemists thought they contained.[2]

  1. ^ Morton, Mark (2004), Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities (2 ed.), Insomniac Press, p. 91, ISBN 978-1-894663-66-3, retrieved 2011-03-13
  2. ^ Day, Ivan. "Cordial Waters". Historic Food. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2010-08-23.