penicillin

B2 Topic:Health & Medicine

US /ˌpɛn.ɪˈsɪl.ɪn/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #16491

Meanings

1

noun
An antibiotic medicine made from mould, used to treat infections caused by bacteria.

The doctor prescribed penicillin to clear up the chest infection.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms penicillins

Derived forms allylmercaptomethylpenicillinaminopenicillinampicillinbenzylpenicillincarboxypenicillindimethoxyphenylpenicillinfenbenicillinisopenicillinnonpenicillinpenampenicillaminepenicillinase

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin pēnis Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ulus Latin -culus Latin pēniculus ▲ Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -illum Latin pēnicillum Translingual -ium Translingual Penicillium Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnusder. Old French -inbor. Middle English -in English -ineclip. English -in English penicillin From translingual Penicillium + -in. Coined by Alexander Fleming after Penicillium notatum (now Penicillium chrysogenum), a fungus from which penicillin is obtained.

Topics

Health & Medicine

# penicillin

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌpɛn.ɪˈsɪl.ɪn
**Frequency rank:** 16491

## Meanings
1. An antibiotic medicine made from mould, used to treat infections caused by bacteria.

## Examples
- The doctor prescribed penicillin to clear up the chest infection.

## Derived Forms
- allylmercaptomethylpenicillin
- aminopenicillin
- ampicillin
- benzylpenicillin
- carboxypenicillin
- dimethoxyphenylpenicillin
- fenbenicillin
- isopenicillin
- nonpenicillin
- penam
- penicillamine
- penicillinase

## Etymology
Etymology tree Latin pēnis Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ulus Latin -culus Latin pēniculus ▲ Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -illum Latin pēnicillum Translingual -ium Translingual Penicillium Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnusder. Old French -inbor. Middle English -in English -ineclip. English -in English penicillin From translingual Penicillium + -in. Coined by Alexander Fleming after Penicillium notatum (now Penicillium chrysogenum), a fungus from which penicillin is obtained.

## AI Etymology
Penicillin comes from translingual Penicillium + -in. Coined by Alexander Fleming after Penicillium notatum (now Penicillium chrysogenum), a fungus from which penicillin is obtained. Modern senses include an antibiotic medicine made from mould, used to treat infections caused by bacteria. The wider word family includes derivatives such as allylmercaptomethylpenicillin, aminopenicillin, ampicillin, benzylpenicillin, carboxypenicillin, and dimethoxyphenylpenicillin.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine

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penicillin

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