Cocaine was coined in German from Spanish coca, which came from Quechua kúka — the Andean name for the plant chewed as a stimulant for millennia before Europeans isolated its active compound.
A powerful stimulant drug derived from the leaves of the South American coca plant.
Coined in German as Kokain by Friedrich Gaedcke, who first isolated the alkaloid from coca leaves in 1855. From Spanish coca, borrowed from Quechua kúka, the indigenous name for the plant. The suffix -ine is a standard chemical naming convention for alkaloids. The coca plant had been chewed for its stimulant effects in the