quinine

[kwahy-nahyn, kwin-ahyn or, esp. British, kwi-neen] /ˈkwaɪ naɪn, ˈkwɪn aɪn or, esp. British, kwɪˈnin/
noun, Chemistry, Pharmacology
1.
a white, bitter, slightly water-soluble alkaloid, C 2 0 H 2 4 N 2 O 2 , having needlelike crystals, obtained from cinchona bark: used in medicine chiefly in the treatment of resistant forms of malaria.
2.
a salt of this alkaloid, especially the sulfate.
Origin
1820-30; < Spanish quin(a) (< Quechua kina bark) + -ine2
Examples from the web for quinine
  • Evidence of quinoline, which contains quinine, is a bit more difficult to explain.
  • There was quinine in the tonic, so that's how they justified the drinking.
  • For centuries, the standard treatment was quinine, and then the chemically related compound chloroquine.
  • Various things were popularly suggested to take the place of quinine and other medicines.
  • Most of the party had malaria, and could be kept going only by large doses of quinine.
  • It is better not to make the trip at all than to fail to take an ample supply of quinine pills.
  • Freddy was up for tea that afternoon, taking large doses of quinine with it.
  • However, there are clearly genetic influences at work, as well-for example in the ability to taste quinine.
  • When the shaking stopped, they were then able to give her quinine to tackle the parasites, and she was cured.
  • Then she brushes on sucrose to test my sense of sweet, citric acid to test sour, and quinine to test bitter.
British Dictionary definitions for quinine

quinine

/kwɪˈniːn; US ˈkwaɪnaɪn/
noun
1.
a bitter crystalline alkaloid extracted from cinchona bark, the salts of which are used as a tonic, antipyretic, analgesic, etc, and in malaria therapy. Formula: C20H24N2O2
Word Origin
C19: from Spanish quina cinchona bark, from Quechua kina bark
Word Origin and History for quinine
n.

alkaloid responsible for curative properties in the cinchona tree, 1821, from French quinine (1820), with chemical ending -ine (2) + Spanish quina "cinchona bark" (from which it is extracted), from Quechua (Peru) kina. Earlier in reduplicated form quinaquina (1727).

quinine in Medicine

quinine qui·nine (kwī'nīn')
n.

  1. A bitter colorless amorphous powder or crystalline alkaloid derived from certain cinchona barks and used to treat malaria.

  2. Any of various compounds or salts of quinine.

quinine in Science
quinine
  (kwī'nīn')   
A bitter-tasting, colorless drug derived from the bark of certain cinchona trees and used medicinally to treat malaria. For hundreds of years quinine was the only drug known to effectively combat malarial infection. It has since been largely replaced by synthetic compounds that not only relieve the symptoms of malaria but also rid the body of the malarial parasite, which quinine does not do. See Note at aspirin.