Penicillin

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌpɛn.ɪˈsɪl.ɪn/

Definitions

1. A therapeutic agent derived from certain fungi that effectively combats bacterial infections by disrupting their cell wall integrity
2. An antibacterial substance produced by molds that serves to prevent the growth of bacteria within the body
3. A type of antibiotic produced by mold that is used to treat infections caused by bacteria by interfering with their ability to replicate

Etymology: Alexander Fleming noticed in 1928 that a mold had killed bacteria on a culture plate in his London laboratory, and the name he gave the active substance was built from the mold's genus. That genus, "Penicillium," takes its name from the Latin "pēnicillum," a painter's brush, because the fungus's spore-bearing branches look like a fine brush. The Latin word itself is a diminutive of "pēniculus," a small brush, which in turn descends from "pēnis," meaning a tail, the same ancestor that gave Latin its word for the animal part. So the antibiotic is named after a brush, and the brush is named after a tail. Fleming's coinage was a practical one. He took the genus name and added the chemical suffix "-in," a common ending for substances, producing a term that sounded like a medicine rather than a fungus. Its use as a drug name followed, and the ending gave the word the familiar shape it still has.

Synonyms: antibiotic, antimicrobial, infection fighter, bactericide, 药物