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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[So called from a kind of Egyptian opium produced at

Thebes

(Chem.)

A poisonous alkaloid,

C19H21NO3

, found in opium in small quantities, having a sharp, astringent taste, and a tetanic action resembling that of strychnine.

See also: thébaine

thebaine ‎(uncountable)

(toxicology) A poisonous alkaloid, paramorphine, obtained from opium; not used in medicine.