psilocybin

See also: Psilocybin

English

Etymology

After German Psilocybin (coined by Albert Hofmann), from New Latin psīlocybē, from Ancient Greek ψιλός (psilós, “smooth”) + κύβη (kúbē, “head”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /saɪləˈsaɪbɪn/

Noun

psilocybin (countable and uncountable, plural psilocybins)

  1. A hallucinogenic alkaloid, C12H15N2O·H2PO3, present in several species of Central American mushroom and producing effects similar to LSD.
    • 2005: The problem of the mushroom supply was solved straight away when Leary learned from a graduate student named George Litwin that a chemist at the Sandoz Corporation, Dr. Albert Hofmann, had recently synthesized the psychoactive molecule of the mushroom, calling it psilocybin. — Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home (Simon & Schuster 2005, p. 70)

See also

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