What does "berberine" mean?

Any of a class of alkaloid C₂₀H₁₉NO₅ originally obtained, as a bitter, yellow substance, from the root of the barberry, goldthread, and other plants. It is used in medicine especially for its antimicrobial properties.

How do you pronounce "berberine"?

Pronounced //ˈbɜː.bə.ɹiːn//.

Berberine

//ˈbɜː.bə.ɹiːn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Any of a class of alkaloid C₂₀H₁₉NO₅ originally obtained, as a bitter, yellow substance, from the root of the barberry, goldthread, and other plants. It is used in medicine especially for its antimicrobial properties. countable, uncountable

Etymology

From berberis + -ine.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.