- codeine
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/koh"deen/, n. Pharm.a white, crystalline, slightly bitter alkaloid, C18H21NO3, obtained from opium, used in medicine chiefly as an analgesic or sedative and to inhibit coughing.Also, codeia /koh dee"euh/, codeina /koh'dee ee"neuh/.[1830-40; < Gk kóde(ia) head, poppy-head + -INE2]
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Heterocyclic compound, a naturally occurring alkaloid found in opium, used in medicine as a cough suppressant and analgesic drug.It exerts its effects by acting on the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Chemically it is methylmorphine, the methyl ether of morphine, an alkaloid of the phenanthrene type; its action is weaker than that of morphine, and it is less likely to lead to drug addiction.* * *
▪ drugalso called methylmorphinenaturally occurring alkaloid of opium, the dried milky exudate of the unripe seed capsule of the poppy Papaver somniferum, that is used in medicine as a cough suppressant and analgesic drug. Codeine exerts its effects by acting on the central nervous system (nervous system, human) (brain and spinal cord). First isolated by French chemist Pierre-Jean Robiquet in 1832, codeine may be extracted directly from opium, but most codeine is produced from morphine, another opium derivative. Because of its narcotic effects, the distribution of the drug is controlled by various governmental agencies.* * *
Universalium. 2010.