mescaline

[mes-kuh-leen, -lin]

noun Pharmacology.

a white, water-soluble, crystalline powder, C11H17NO3, obtained from mescal buttons, that produces hallucinations.

Origin of mescaline

First recorded in 1895–1900; mescal + -ine²

Can be confusedmescaline mesclun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mescaline

Historical Examples of mescaline

It is common to have a bad psychological reaction to LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin.
What Works: Schools Without Drugs
United States Department of Education
Lysergic acid (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin cause illusions and hallucinations.
What Works: Schools Without Drugs
United States Department of Education

British Dictionary definitions for mescaline

mescaline

mescalin

noun

a hallucinogenic drug derived from mescal buttons. Formula: C 11 H 17 NO 3

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

Word Origin and History for mescaline

crystalline alkaloid, 1896, from German mezcalin (1896), so called because it originally was found in the buttons that grow atop the mescal cacti (see mescal). With chemical suffix -ine (2).

mescaline in Medicine

mescaline

[mĕs′kə-lēn′, -lĭn]

n.

An alkaloid drug obtained from buttons of a small cactus (Lophophora williamsii) that has hallucinatory effects.