healthful

== English == === Alternative forms === healthfull (archaic) === Etymology === From Middle English helthful, helþful, helþeful, equivalent to health +‎ -ful. === Pronunciation === === Adjective === healthful (comparative healthfuller or more healthful, superlative healthfullest or most healthful) Beneficial to bodily health. Conducive to moral or spiritual prosperity; salutary. (archaic) Synonym of healthy (“evincing health”). ==== Usage notes ==== When a clearer distinction is intended, healthy is used to describe the state of the object, and healthful describes its ability to impart health to the recipient. Vegetables in good condition are both healthy (i.e., not rotten or diseased) and healthful (i.e., they improve the eaters' health, compared to eating junk food). By contrast, a poisonous plant can be healthy, but it is not healthful to eat of. ==== Synonyms ==== healthy salubrious salutary wholesome ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== heal health healthy ==== Translations ====