parenteral

American  

[pa-ren-ter-uhl] / pæˈrɛn tər əl /

adjective

Anatomy, Medicine/Medical, Physiology.

1. taken into the body in a manner other than through the digestive canal.

2. not within the intestine; not intestinal.

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parenteral British  

/ pæˈrɛntərəl /

adjective

1. (esp of the route by which a drug is administered) by means other than through the digestive tract, esp by injection

2. designating a drug to be injected

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Other Word Forms

• parenterally adverb

Etymology

Origin of parenteral

First recorded in 1905–10; par- + enter- + -al ¹

Example Sentences

In February, it said the fourth location will focus on global parenteral manufacturing for injectable therapies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025

This includes the 30,000-plus Americans who rely for survival on parenteral nutrition, which has 72 ingredients.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2023

Their patients with life-threatening digestive disorders depend on parenteral nutrition, or PN — in which amino acids, sugars, fats, vitamins and electrolytes typically are pumped through a catheter into a large vein near the heart.

From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2023

“Her husband had been undergoing treatment for infective endocarditis at home with parenteral nafcillin,” according to the case report.

From Fox News • Nov. 7, 2019

BDCs, by contrast, rapidly extravasate with high volumes of distribution after parenteral dosing, quickly binding to cell surface tumor antigens and internalizing, and any unbound BDC is quickly cleared by the kidney within minutes. 

From Forbes • Oct. 14, 2014