physostigmine

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)

1. (biochemistry, pharmacology) A parasympathomimetic, a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor alkaloid of the Calabar bean, used to treat certain medical conditions. [from 19th c.]
   • 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.