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Quinine

4 stages from Quechua to English.

Today it means a bitter alkaloid derived from cinchona bark, historically used to treat malaria and to flavor tonic water

Where does the word "quinine" come from? It comes from Quechua kina, passing through Spanish and French before entering English (1820s).

1
Stage 1 of 4
kina
Quechua · pre-1500s
"bark, specifically fever-tree bark"
named the bark of the cinchona tree used to treat fevers
2
Stage 2 of 4
quina
Spanish · 1630s
"cinchona bark used as medicine"
adopted by Spanish Jesuits who learned of the fever-bark remedy in Peru
3
Stage 3 of 4
quinine
French · 1820
"the isolated anti-malarial alkaloid from cinchona bark"
coined by French chemists Pelletier and Caventou when they isolated the active alkaloid
4
Stage 4 of 4
quinine
English · 1820s
"a bitter compound used to treat malaria"
borrowed directly from the French scientific term
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