A poisonous glycoside compound extracted from hellebore plants.
From 'hellebore' plus the chemical suffix '-in' (denoting a chemical compound). Emerged in 19th-century chemistry when scientists began isolating active compounds from traditional medicine plants.
Scientists discovered that hellebore's toxicity came from a single chemical compound—helleborein—which is how we learned that one plant's poison might be one organism's medicine if given in tiny doses, revolutionizing pharmacology!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.