colchicine

[ kol-chuh-seen, -sin, kol-kuh- ]

/ ˈkɒl tʃəˌsin, -sɪn, ˈkɒl kə- /

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noun Pharmacology.

a pale yellow, crystalline alkaloid, C22H25NO6, the active principle of colchicum.

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Origin of colchicine

First recorded in 1850–55; colchic(um) + -ine²

Words nearby colchicine

Colbath, Colbert, colby, colcannon, Colchester, colchicine, colchicum, Colchis, colcothar, cold, cold-blooded

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use colchicine in a sentence

It is much stronger than the common extract, and contains the acetate of colchicine.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
These reagents precipitate colchicine, but do not affect solutions of digitaline or picrotoxine.
Legal Chemistry|A. Naquet
Casper puts the lethal dose of colchicine at from 25 to 30 mgrms.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth
By cautious evaporation colchicine will be deposited, and maybe purified by re-solution and crystallisation in alcohol.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley

It is, therefore, evident that there are in man no constant pathological changes from colchicine poisoning.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth

British Dictionary definitions for colchicine

colchicine

/ (ˈkɒltʃɪˌsiːn, -sɪn, ˈkɒlkɪ-) /

noun

a pale-yellow crystalline alkaloid extracted from seeds or corms of the autumn crocus. It is used in the treatment of gout and to create polyploid plants by inhibiting chromosome separation during meiosis. Formula: C 22 H 25 NO 6

Word Origin for colchicine

C19: from colchicum + -ine ²

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