Etymology

quinine

qui·nine
Q10U1I1N1I1N1E1

Today it means: An alkaloid with the chemical formula C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂, originally derived from cinchona bark (from plants of the genus Cinchona), used to treat malaria and as an ingredient of tonic water, which presents as a bitter colourless powder; also, a drug containing quinine or a chemical compound derived from it. Full definition →

First used early 19th c.Spanish quina ← French quinine ← Quechua kina-kina
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The story

  1. Quechua · derived fromkina-kina
  2. French · borrowed fromquinine
  3. Spanish · derived fromquina“quinine”
  4. English todayquinine

The noun is either: * derived from Spanish quina (“quinine”) (a clipping of quinaquina (“Cinchona bark”)) + English -ine (suffix forming names of chemical substances, especially (among others) alkaloidal substances); or * borrowed from French quinine, from quin(quina) (“Cinchona bark”) + -ine (feminine form of -in (suffix forming nouns)). Spanish quinaquina and French quinquina are both derived from Quechua kina-kina, a reduplication of kina (“bark; (specifically) Cinchona bark”). The verb is derived from the noun.

First known use, by meaning

  • from early 19th c. An alkaloid with the chemical formula C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂, originally derived from cinchona bark (from plants of the genus Cinchona), used to treat malaria and as an ingredient of tonic water, which presents as a bitter colourless powder; also, a drug containing quinine or a chemical compound derived from it.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.