Salutory

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Producing a beneficial or healthy effect; promoting well-being or improvement
2. Having a helpful or beneficial effect, particularly in a manner that promotes improvement and well-being
3. Causing a positive impact that leads to improvement in health or conditions

Etymology: "Salutory" comes from the Latin "salutaris," meaning "healthful" or "wholesome," which is itself built on "salus," "health" or "safety." That same root gives English "salute," originally a wish of good health, and "salubrious," meaning favourable to health. The word arrived in English through the same Latin family, with its sense shaped by the idea of health as the root of wellbeing. The most striking thing about it is how close it sits to the more familiar "salutary," which has the same meaning and the same ancestry. The two spellings are essentially the same word, and the "-ory" form is simply the alternate ending that English writers have used for adjectives of this kind. Because the word is rare today, its use tends to be formal or literary. It usually describes an effect, such as a lesson, a warning, or a treatment, that does good over time, which is why the health sense has broadened into moral and practical improvement.

Synonyms: beneficial, healthful, advantageous, helpful, wholesome

Antonyms: harmful, detrimental, injurious, unhealthy, adverse