colchicine

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a toxic alkaloid obtained from Colchicum plants and used in controlled doses to treat gout and certain inflammatory conditions

   The physician prescribed colchicine to reduce the inflammation from an acute gout attack.

From colchicum + -ine, the chemical suffix used in names of substances. Colchicum is the meadow-saffron genus and ultimately takes its name from Colchis, an ancient region east of the Black Sea.

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