Definition

A substance derived from opium that is used in medicine to help relax smooth muscles and relieve spasms.

Example

The doctor prescribed papaverine to help ease the patient's muscle cramps.

Conversation

I read that papaverine can help with muscle spasms.

Really? I've never heard of that before.

Yeah, it's used medicinally to relax smooth muscle.

That sounds interesting! I wonder if it works well for asthma too.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Papaverine is derived from "papaver" (from Latin, meaning poppy) and "-ine" (a suffix used in chemistry to denote substances). The word refers to a compound derived from the poppy plant.

Memory Tip

Think of the word 'poppy' ('papaver') to remember that 'papaverine' is a substance derived from the poppy plant.

Visually Confused Words