Cathartine
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A hypothetical substance formerly imagined to cause the bitterness and purgativeness of the dried leaves or pods of senna plants. uncountable
"The sulphate of potash insoluble in this fluid, being separated by the filter; the excess of sulphuric acid was precipitated by acetate of lead; then, by decomposing this latter salt, by sulphuretted hydrogen, and again filtering and evaporating to dryness, the Cathartine, or purgative principle of senna, was obtained."
Example
More examples"The sulphate of potash insoluble in this fluid, being separated by the filter; the excess of sulphuric acid was precipitated by acetate of lead; then, by decomposing this latter salt, by sulphuretted hydrogen, and again filtering and evaporating to dryness, the Cathartine, or purgative principle of senna, was obtained."
Etymology
From cathartic + -ine.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.