Lactagogue

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A substance that promotes or increases the flow of milk in breastfeeding individuals ; an agent used to encourage milk production in lactating mammals ; a medicine or herb believed to stimulate or enhance breast milk secretion
2. Any compound or preparation that aids in boosting the secretion of milk in nursing females ; a product administered to support or generate higher milk yields during lactation ; a natural or synthetic agent that serves to facilitate milk supply for mothers feeding infants
3. A material or remedy that helps initiate or augment milk secretion in mothers ; something taken or prescribed to improve the volume of milk produced by lactating animals ; a treatment used to foster the production and release of milk during the breastfeeding period

Etymology: "Lactagogue" is built from two parts that both come from Latin. The first, "lact-", comes from Latin "lac" (genitive "lactis"), meaning milk, which also gave English "lactose" and "lactation." The second, "-agogue," comes from Greek "agōgos," meaning "leading" or "drawing out," from "agein," to lead. A "-agogue" word names something that draws out or stimulates a particular thing, so a lactagogue is literally something that draws out milk. The suffix is a familiar one in medical and scientific vocabulary. "Demagogue" (literally a leader of the people) and "pedagogue" (a leader of children) are older examples that share it, though their meanings have shifted considerably. "Sialagogue," a substance that increases saliva, follows the same pattern. Because the word is a modern coinage built from classical parts, it does not appear in ancient texts. It belongs to the vocabulary of medicine and pharmacology, where scientists in the 19th and 20th centuries created such terms to name specific physiological effects.

Synonyms: galactagogue, milk stimulant, milk enhancer, breastfeeding aid