echidnine

English

Etymology

From Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) + -ine.

Noun

echidnine (uncountable)

  1. The clear, viscid fluid secreted by the poison glands of certain snakes.
  2. (organic chemistry) A nitrogenous base contained in this fluid, believed to be the active poisonous principle of the virus.
    • 1861, Alfred Moquin-Tandon, Elements of Medical Zoology:
      Prince Lucien Bonaparte has shown that the poison of the Viper consists essentially of a principle to which he has given the name echidnine or viperine

References

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