root doctor

noun

, Chiefly Southern U.S.

1. herb doctor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of root doctor¹

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25

Example Sentences

Multiple victims require interventions by people from a variety of faith backgrounds: a Pentecostal preacher, a Baptist minister, a traditional healer called a root doctor, a former nun — and also a Catholic priest.

From Seattle Times

Green opened up his narrative to include many different religious perspectives, including those of a Pentecostal preacher, a root doctor and a Baptist clergyman.

From Los Angeles Times

At 105 years old, the local “root doctor,” Mama Z, has documented nearly every lynching in America since 1913, and she chides the prolific academic author of a “two-volume work on the biological and philosophical origins of racial violence in the United States” for his ability “to construct 307 pages on such a topic without an ounce of outrage.”

From New York Times

Mama Z is the local root doctor in Money, Miss., the setting for much of the novel.

From Los Angeles Times

Lots of doctors in the early 1900s, really up until the 1930s, still relied on natural remedies, and many of them cited formulas, or protocols from the local root doctor.

From Salon