taxol

T1A1X8O1L1
/ˈtæksɒl/

noun

A taxane, C₄₇H₅₁NO₁₄, used to treat cancer; Taxol.

OriginLatin taxus →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

taxol1

nountaxol (plural taxols)

plural taxols

  1. chemistryA taxane, C₄₇H₅₁NO₁₄, used to treat cancer; Taxol.

    The powerful anti-cancer drug taxol is extracted from the leaves of the yew tree.

    2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 20

Taxol2

noun
  1. medicineTaxol, paclitaxel: a drug (a mitotic inhibitor) used to kill dividing tumour cells.

Origin

taxol · noun

  1. Latintaxus“yew”
  2. Englishtaxol

From Latin taxus (“yew”) + -ol. Named by the researchers who isolated it from the bark of the Pacific yew in 1967, Monroe E. Wall and Mansukh C. Wani, from the scientific Latin term Taxus (a genus name).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Taxol · noun

See taxol.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

taxol. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taxol

MLA

“taxol.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taxol. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “taxol,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taxol.

Source: taxol on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.