QUININE

noun an alkaloid extracted from the bark of several species of cinchona (·esp. cinchona calisaya) as a bitter white crystalline substance, c20h24n2o2. hence, by extension (med.), any of the salts of this alkaloid, as the acetate, chloride, sulphate, ·etc., employed as a febrifuge or antiperiodic. called also quinia, quinina, ·etc.