quinine

CEFRB2

/kwɪˈniːn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A bitter medicine once widely used to treat malaria.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    To treat (someone) with quinine.

Examples

  • That drug is a derivative of quinine.

  • Tonic water contains quinine.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈkwaɪ.naɪn/
  • /ˈkwɪn.aɪn/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. An alkaloid with the chemical formula C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂, originally derived from cinchona bark (from plants of the genus Cinchona), used to treat malaria and as an ingredient of tonic water, which presents as a bitter colourless powder; also, a drug containing quinine or a chemical compound derived from it.

More examples

In context

  • The alkali of yellow bark may be distinguished from cinchonine by the name of quinine.

  • The quinine, being more potent than cinchonine, is generally preferred.

  • He hadn't the faintest idea what to do with a cold in the head, he just took quinine and continued to blow his nose.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

To treat his malaria, the doctor prescribed a bitter medicine called blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is either: * derived from Spanish quina (“quinine”) (a clipping of quinaquina (“Cinchona bark”)) + English -ine (suffix forming names of chemical substances, especially (among others) alkaloidal substances); or * borrowed from French quinine, from quin(quina) (“Cinchona bark”) + -ine (feminine form of -in (suffix forming nouns)). Spanish quinaquina and French quinquina are both derived from Quechua kina-kina, a reduplication of kina (“bark; (specifically) Cinchona bark”). The verb is derived from the noun.