ergotoxine

[ur-guh-tok-seen, -sin]

noun

Pharmacology.

1. a white, crystalline, water-insoluble alkaloid, C 35 H 41 N 5 O 6 , obtained from ergot, used chiefly in obstetrics as a uterine stimulant.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ergotoxine¹

First recorded in 1905–10; ergo- ² + tox- ( def. ) + -ine ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Because of its toxic side effects, it was named ergotoxine and was never used medically.

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Hofmann found a way out thereafter by working with the less expensive ergotoxine.

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Upon the oath of the Public Analyst, the same bottle, handed by the husband of the deceased woman to the Police upon the night of her death, and now produced in Court with two or three doses of dark liquid remaining in it, contained a powerful solution of ergotoxine—a much less innocent drug.

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