cinchona

cinchona
The dried bark of the root and stem of various species of C., a genus of evergreen trees (family Rubiaceae), native of South America but cultivated in various tropical regions. The cultivated bark contains 7 to 10% of total alkaloids; about 70% is quinine. C. contains more than 20 alkaloids, of which two pairs of isomers are most important: quinine and quinidine, and cinchonidine and cinchonine. SYN: bark (2), c. bark, Jesuits bark, Peruvian bark, quina, quinaquina, quinquina. [C., fr. Countess of Chinch′on]

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cin·cho·na siŋ-'kō-nə, sin-'chō- n
1) cap a large genus of So. American trees and shrubs of the madder family
2) a tree of the genus Cinchona
3) the dried bark of any of several trees of the genus Cinchona (esp. C. ledgeriana and C. succirubra or their hybrids) containing alkaloids (as quinine, cinchonine, quinidine, and cinchonidine) and being used esp. formerly as a specific in malaria, an antipyretic in other fevers, and a tonic and stomachic called also cinchona bark, Jesuits' bark, Peruvian bark
Chin·chón chin-'chōn Countess of (Doña Francisca Henriquez de Ribera) vicereine. According to a legend first given out in 1663 and supposedly based on a now-lost letter, Countess Chinchón, the wife of the viceroy of Peru, fell ill with malaria. The governor of a neighboring province quickly provided a remedy in the form of a certain tree bark. The countess experienced a seemingly miraculous recovery, and word of the bark's extraordinary powers quickly spread. The name of the countess henceforth became associated with the bark. While the story is apocryphal, Linnaeus perpetuated the name of the countess, albeit in misspelled form, by designating the genus of that tree Cinchona in her honor.

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n.
the dried bark of Cinchona trees, formerly used in medicine to stimulate the appetite and to prevent haemorrhage and diarrhoea. Taken over prolonged periods, it may cause cinchonism. Cinchona is the source of quinine.

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Cin·cho·na (sin-koґnə) [Francisca Henrнquez de Ribera, Countess of Chinchуn, 1576–1639] a genus of South American trees of the family Rubiaceae, the source of the medicinal bark called cinchona. The major species used are C. succiruґbra Pavon et Klotzsch and its hybrids (red cinchona), C. calisaґya Weddell, and C. ledgeriaґna (Howard) Moens et Trimen and its hybrids (yellow cinchona).

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cinchona — (S) …   EthnoBotanical Dictionary

  • Cinchona — Cinchona …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cinchona — Cin*cho na, n. [So named from the wife of Count Chinchon, viceroy of Peru in the seventeenth century, who by its use was freed from an intermittent fever, and after her return to Spain, contributed to the general propagation of this remedy.] 1.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Cinchōna — L. (Chinarindenbaum, Fieberrindenbaum), Gattung der Rubiazeen, benannt nach der Gräfin von Chinchon, Gemahlin des Vizekönigs von Peru (s. unten), höchst elegante, kahle oder filzig behaarte Bäume oder Sträucher mit gegenständigen, elliptischen… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • cinchona — [sin kō′nə] n. [ModL: coined by LINNAEUS Carolus after the Countess del Chinchón, wife of a 17th c. Peruvian viceroy, who was treated for fever with the bark] 1. any of a genus (Cinchona) of tropical South American trees of the madder family,… …   English World dictionary

  • Cinchōna — (Cinch. L.), nach der Gräfin Cinchon (Gemahlin des Grafen Cinchon, Vicekönigs von Peru, die nach ihrer Zurückkehr nach Spanien 1632 zur Bekanntwerdung der Chinarinde wesentlich beitrug) benannte Pflanzengattung, aus der Familie der Rubiaceae… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Cinchona — Cinchŏna, Pflanzengattg., s. Chinarinde [Abb. 345] …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Cinchona — Cinchona, s. Chinarinde …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • cinchona — |ô| s. f. [Botânica] Gênero de rubiáceas a que pertence a quina …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • cinchona — ► NOUN ▪ a medicinal drug obtained from the bark of a South American tree, containing quinine and related compounds. ORIGIN named after the Countess of Chinchón (died 1641), who brought the drug to Spain …   English terms dictionary

  • Cinchona — For other uses, see Cinchona (disambiguation). Cinchona Cinchona pubescens flowers Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

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