Colchicine

//ˈkɒl.tʃɪs.iːn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A highly toxic alkaloid, chemical formula C₂₂H₂₅NO₆, originally extracted from plants of the genus Colchicum and formerly used to treat rheumatic complaints, now used mainly in the treatment of gout. countable, uncountable

    "Gloriosa superba: spectacularly beautiful climbing lily. Roots, stalks, leaves contain an acrid narcotic, superbine, as well as colchicine and choline. Three grains of colchicine are fatal. Hawaii."

  2. 2
    an analgesic drug derived from the saffron plant and used to treat gout wordnet

Example

More examples

"Gloriosa superba: spectacularly beautiful climbing lily. Roots, stalks, leaves contain an acrid narcotic, superbine, as well as colchicine and choline. Three grains of colchicine are fatal. Hawaii."

Etymology

From colchicum + -ine.

Related phrases

chemical formula

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