cinchona

n. [ So named from the wife of Count Chinchon, viceroy of Peru in the seventeenth century, who by its use was freed from an intermittent fever, and after her return to Spain, contributed to the general propagation of this remedy. ] 1. (Bot.) A genus of trees growing naturally on the Andes in Peru and adjacent countries, but now cultivated in the East Indies, producing a medicinal bark of great value. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) The bark of any species of Cinchona containing three per cent. or more of bitter febrifuge alkaloids; Peruvian bark; Jesuits' bark. [ 1913 Webster ]