penicillin

English

Etymology

From translingual Penicillium +‎ -in. Coined by Alexander Fleming after Penicillium notatum (now Penicillium chrysogenum), a fungus from which penicillin is obtained.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɛn.ɪˈsɪl.ɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlɪn

Noun

penicillin (countable and uncountable, plural penicillins)

1. (pharmacology) Any of a group of narrow-spectrum antibiotics obtained from Penicillium molds or synthesized, that have a beta-lactam structure and are active against gram-positive bacteria and used in the treatment of various infections and diseases.
2. (mycology) A blue mold of the genus Penicillium that produces penicillin.

Derived terms

• benzathine penicillin
• benzylpenicillin, penicillin G
• -cillin (“antibiotic”)
• I'm allergic to penicillin
• isopenicillin
• Jewish penicillin
• penicillinic acid
• penicillin O
• penicillin VK
• phenoxymethyl penicillin
• phenoxymethylpenicillin, penicillin V
• procaine penicillin

 

Translations

antibiotic

• Arabic: بِنِسِلِين m (binisilīn)

  Egyptian: بينسيلين m

• Basque: penizilina
• Belarusian: пеніцылі́н m (pjenicylín)
• Bulgarian: пеницили́н m (penicilín)
• Catalan: penicil·lina (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 青黴素／青霉素 (zh) (qīngméisù), 盤尼西林／盘尼西林 (zh) (pánníxīlín)

• Czech: penicilín (cs) m
• Danish: penicillin c or n
• Dutch: penicilline (nl)
• Esperanto: penicilino
• Faroese: penicillin
• Finnish: penisilliini (fi)
• French: pénicilline (fr) f
• Georgian: პენიცილინი (ṗenicilini)
• German: Penicillin (de) n, Penizillin (de) n
• Greek: πενικιλίνη (el) f (penikilíni)
• Hebrew: פניצילין (he)
• Hindi: पेनिसिलिन (hi) (penisilin)
• Hungarian: penicillin (hu)
• Icelandic: penisillín
• Ido: penicilino (io)
• Indonesian: penisilin (id)
• Italian: penicillina (it) f
• Japanese: ペニシリン (ja) (penishirin)
• Kazakh: пенициллин (penisillin)
• Khmer: ប៉េនីស៊ីលីន (pâyniseelin)
• Korean: 페니실린 (penisillin)
• Lithuanian: penicilinas
• Macedonian: пеницили́н m (penicilín)
• Marathi: पेनिसिलिन (penisilin)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: penicillin n

  Nynorsk: penicillin n

• Occitan: penicillina (oc) f
• Persian: پنیسیلین (fa) (penisilin)
• Polish: penicylina (pl) f
• Portuguese: penicilina (pt) f
• Romanian: penicilină (ro) f
• Russian: пеницилли́н (ru) m (penicillín)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пеницилин m

  Roman: penicilin (sh) m

• Slovak: penicilín m
• Slovene: penicilin m
• Spanish: penicilina f
• Swedish: penicillin (sv)
• Tamil: பெனிசிலின் (peṉiciliṉ)
• Telugu: పెన్సిలిన్ (te) (pensilin)
• Thai: เพนิซิลลิน (pâynísíllin)
• Tibetan: པན་ནི་སི་ལིན་ (pan ni si lin)
• Turkish: penisilin (tr)
• Ukrainian: пеніцилі́н m (penicylín)
• Vietnamese: penicillin (vi)

References

• “penicillin”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “penicillin”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin Penicillium.

Noun

penicillin n (definite singular penicillinet, indefinite plural penicillin, definite plural penicillina or penicillinene)

1. penicillin

References

• “penicillin” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin Penicillium.

Noun

penicillin n (definite singular penicillinet, indefinite plural penicillin, definite plural penicillina)

1. penicillin

References

• “penicillin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Noun

penicillin n

1. (pharmacology) penicillin

Declension

Declension of penicillin

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	penicillin	penicillins
	definite	penicillinet	penicillinets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

References

• penicillin in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• penicillin in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• penicillin in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)