arsphenamine

American

[ahrs-fen-uh-meen, -min] / ɑrsˈfɛn əˌmin, -mɪn /

noun

Pharmacology.

a yellow, crystalline powder, C 12 H 12 N 2 O 2 As 2 ⋅2HCl⋅2H 2 O, formerly used to treat diseases caused by spirochete organisms, especially syphilis and trench mouth: first known as “606.”

arsphenamine British

/ -ˌmiːn, ɑːsˈfɛnəmɪn /

noun

a drug containing arsenic, formerly used in the treatment of syphilis and related infections

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of arsphenamine

First recorded in 1915–20; ars(enic) + phen(yl) + amine

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Popularly called 606 or Salvarsan, this Ehrlich remedy was technically a compound of arsenic known as arsphenamine.

From Time Magazine Archive

To kill the trench mouth spirochete, doctors usually swab their patients' swollen gums with hydrogen peroxide, silver salts or arsphenamine, prescribe mouthwashes of sodium perborate.

From Time Magazine Archive

So powerful is arsphenamine that doctors can give it only in single doses extending over a period of 18 months.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023