Mectin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Any of a family of antiparasitic drugs derived from soil bacteria, used to treat worm and mite infestations in people and animals
2. A medicine belonging to the macrocyclic lactone group that kills parasites by disrupting their nerve and muscle function
3. A pharmaceutical compound in the avermectin family, employed against internal and external parasites in humans and livestock

Etymology: Mectin is a clipped form of "avermectin," the name given to a family of compounds made by the soil bacterium "Streptomyces avermitilis." The name is a compound built to advertise what the compounds do. The "verm" element comes from Latin "vermis," worm, and the ending records the chemical family. Chemists then shortened the name to its last syllables, so a single piece of the name now stands for the whole class of drugs. Those drugs were developed to kill parasitic worms in livestock and people. Ivermectin, a close chemical relative, followed as a human treatment, and dozens of drugs now share the ending. The suffix works like a family name: any compound built on the same core structure can carry it, which is why the element has spread beyond its original product.

Synonyms: avermectin, ivermectin