taxol

Named by the researchers who isolated it from the bark of the Pacific yew in 1967, Monroe E. Wall and Mansukh C. Wani, from the scientific Latin term Taxus (a genus name).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæksɒl/

taxol (plural taxols)

1. (chemistry, pharmacology) A taxane, C₄₇H₅₁NO₁₄, used to treat cancer; Taxol.
   • 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 20:

     The powerful anti-cancer drug taxol is extracted from the leaves of the yew tree.