physostigmine
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English
Etymology
From translingual Physostigma venenosum (“the Calabar bean”) + -ine.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌfʌɪ.səʊˈstɪɡ.miːn/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌfaɪ.səˈstɪɡˌmin/
Noun
physostigmine (countable and uncountable, plural physostigmines)
- (biochemistry, pharmacology) A parasympathomimetic, a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor alkaloid of the Calabar bean, used to treat certain medical conditions.
- 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 40:
- The substance is physostigmine, a drug first isolated from the Calabar bean (Physostigmine venenosum), a climbing liana that grows in swampy coastal areas of West Africa from Sierra Leone south and east as far as the Cameroons.
Derived terms
- -stigmine (“acetylcholinesterase inhibitor”)
References
- “physostigmine”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “physostigmine”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.