Main Entry:

cin·cho·na

Pronunciation:

\siŋ-ˈkō-nə, sin-ˈchō-\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

New Latin, genus name, from the countess of Chinchón †1641 wife of the Peruvian viceroy

Date:

1786

1 : any of a genus (Cinchona) of South American trees and shrubs of the madder family 2 : the dried bark of a cinchona (as C. ledgeriana) containing alkaloids (as quinine) and formerly used as a specific in malaria