A bitter crystalline compound present in cinchona bark, used as a tonic and formerly as an antimalarial drug.
An alkaloid; chemical formula: C20H24N2O2.
Some people drink tonic water with quinine to get the drug without the prescription....
Doctors treat malaria by using anti-malarial drugs, such as chloroquine or quinine.
For many years the treatment of malaria in Africa has relied on chloroquine, sulfadoxine combined with pyrimethamine, and quinine, with the latter being used mainly to treat severe cases.
Origin
Early 19th century: from Spanish quina 'cinchona bark' (from Quechua kina 'bark') + -ine4.