Cephalexins

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections by inhibiting cell wall synthesis
2. A medication effective against a range of gram-positive and some gram-negative bacteria by disrupting their growth
3. Utilized in clinical settings to manage infections, particularly in skin and respiratory tract cases by targeting bacteria's protective layers

Etymology: "Cephalexins" is simply the plural of "cephalexin," the name of a drug in the cephalosporin class of antibiotics. The name is a systematic pharmaceutical coinage. "Cephalo-" comes from the Greek "kephalē," meaning "head," and in drug names it refers to the cephalosporin family, whose first members were derived from a mold, Acremonium (formerly called Cephalosporium), named for the head-like shape of its spore clusters. The "-exin" ending is a suffix used in the naming of many modern cephalosporins. The plural form is used when speaking of several distinct cephalexin products, formulations, or doses, although in everyday usage the singular is far more common.

Synonyms: cephalexin