aporphine
|a-por-phine|
🇺🇸
/əˈpɔrfiːn/
🇬🇧
/əˈpɔː(r)fiːn/
plant-derived tetracyclic alkaloid
Etymology
'aporphine' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'aporphinum', coined in the 19th century in chemical literature to name this class of alkaloids.
'aporphinum' entered modern scientific English as 'aporphine' via 19th-century chemical publications (notably French and German literature), becoming the established term for the structural class.
Initially it referred to a single isolated compound; over time the term broadened to denote the family of related tetracyclic alkaloids (aporphine alkaloids).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a class of plant-derived alkaloids based on the aporphine (tetracyclic) skeleton; also used for an individual compound of that structural type.
Aporphine and its derivatives have been studied for their pharmacological and neurological effects.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/21 15:24