n. A drug, C17H21NO3, originally derived from the bulbs of snowdrops and other plants, that inhibits the action of acetylcholinesterase and is used in its hydrobromide form to treat dementia in people with Alzheimer's disease. [Formed on the model of Russian galantamin : New Latin Galanthus, snowdrop genus name (coined by Carl Linnaeus in reference to the milk-white flowers of the snowdrop : Greek gala, milk; see melg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Greek anthos, flower) + AMINE.] |
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