strychnine
UK /ˈstɹɪk.niːn/ · US /ˈstrɪkˌnaɪn/ noun
Forms strychnines
- noun (organic chemistry) A very toxic, colorless crystalline alkaloid, derived from nux vomica, used as a pesticide.
Etymology
From French strychnine, from Greek στρύχνος (strýchnos, “sleepy nightshade”) (or directly from Ancient Greek στρύχνον (strúkhnon)) + -ine.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A very poisonous alkaloid resembling brucine, obtained from various species of plants, especially from species of Loganiaceæ, as from the seeds of the St. Ignatius bean (Strychnos Ignatia) and from nux vomica. It is obtained as a white crystalline substance, having a very bitter acrid taste, and is employed in medicine (chiefly in the form of the sulphate) as a powerful neurotic stimulant. Called also strychnia, and formerly strychnina.
Etymology [L. strychnos a kind of nightshade, Gr. strychnine.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “strychnine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details