Psilocybin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /saɪləˈsaɪbɪn/

Origin

After German Psilocybin (coined by Albert Hofmann), from modern Latin psilocybe, from Greek ψιλός ‘smooth’ + κύβη ‘head’.

Full definition of psilocybin

Noun

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

Related terms

• psilocin
• Psilocybe semilanceata