Meanings
- uncountablemedicineAn antimalarial drug C₁₇H₁₆F₆N₂O similar to quinine that consists of a fluorinated derivative of quinoline and is used in the form of its hydrochloride for the prevention and treatment of malaria.
I take thalazole to control the stools, mefloquine for the malaria.
2007, Teju Cole, Every Day is for the Thief, Faber & Faber (2015), page 1542 more examples
The same year the UN banned mefloquine for peacekeeping troops in Cambodia because of concern about the drug's "neuropsychiatric side effects… in military personnel".
2002 October 24, Mark Honigsbaum, “'It's not a benign drug—it has ruined my life'”, in The Guardian, →ISSNDrug-Interactions: Several anti-malaria drugs, such as mefloquine, chloroquine and proguanil (not approved for use in US) possess antibacterial activity which may interfere with the immunogenicity of Vivotif.
2013 September 28, Vivotif Package Insert USA, Food and Drug Administration, retrieved 05 Dec 2025, page 4Synonyms: Lariam
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn antimalarial drug C₁₇H₁₆F₆N₂O similar to quinine that consists of a fluorinated derivative of quinoline and is used in the form of its hydrochloride for the prevention and treatment of malaria.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan antimalarial drug (trade name Lariam and Mephaquine) that is effective in cases that do not respond to chloroquine; said to produce harmful neuropsychiatric effects on some people
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*médʰu
- Proto-Hellenic*métʰu
- Ancient Greekμέθυ (méthu)
- Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
- Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
- GermanMethy
- Englishme(thyl)
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰlewH-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰluH-yé-ti?
- Latinfluō
- Latinfluor
- Englishfl(uor)o-
- Englishmefloquine
From me(thyl) (“quinoline derivative”) + fl(uor)o- + -quine.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mefloquine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mefloquine
“mefloquine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mefloquine. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mefloquine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mefloquine.
Source: mefloquine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.