What is "mauveine"

mauveine \mauve"["i]ne\, n. (Chem.) An artificial organic base, obtained by oxidizing a mixture of aniline and toluidine, and valuable for the dyestuffs it forms. [Written also mauvine.]

n. A purple dye, the first synthetic organic dye created.

Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was the first synthetic organic chemical dye, discovered serendipitously in 1856. It is also among the first chemical dyes to have been mass-produced.