psilocybin

See also: Psilocybin

English

Etymology

translingual Psilocybe +‎ -in, after German Psilocybin (coined by Albert Hofmann), from translingual Psilocybe, from New Latin psīlocybē, from Ancient Greek ψιλός (psilós, “smooth”) + κύβη (kúbē, “head”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saɪləˈsaɪbɪn/

Noun

psilocybin (countable and uncountable, plural psilocybins)

1. A hallucinogenic alkaloid, C₁₂H₁₅N₂O·H₂PO₃, present in several species of Central American mushroom and producing effects similar to LSD.
   • 2005, Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home, Simon & Schuster, page 70:

     The problem of the mushroom supply was solved straight away when Leary learned from a graduate student named George Litwin that a chemist at the Sandoz Corporation, Dr. Albert Hofmann, had recently synthesized the psychoactive molecule of the mushroom, calling it psilocybin.

   • 2019 January 29, Tom Bissell, “An Anti-Facebook Manifesto”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     It’s no stretch to posit that because human neurotransmitters respond to the platform’s iconic use of a certain shade of blue, and spark with dopamine upon receiving a “like” or “tag” notification, desperate children are now living in cages and a raving madman occupies the Oval Office. Not even Orwell, after a feast of psilocybin, could have predicted this dystopia.

Related terms

• psilocin
• Psilocybe semilanceata

See also

• magic mushroom

Further reading

• psilocybin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia