penicillin

/ˈpɛnəˌsɪlɪn/

/pɛnɪˈsɪlɪn/

Other forms: penicillins

If you have an ear infection, your doctor may give you penicillin. It's a common kind of antibiotic medicine.

Penicillin is credited with saving millions of lives. It was discovered in 1928 by a Scottish scientist who returned from a vacation to find a mold growing in a petri dish of infectious bacteria. There were no bacteria growing around the mold, and he named the antibacterial substance produced by the mold penicillin. About ten years later, a team of different scientists started to figure out how to purify and mass-produce penicillin. The Latin root, penicillus, or "paintbrush," describes the shape of the mold cells that were used to create the original penicillin.

Definitions of penicillin

1. noun

   any of various antibiotics obtained from Penicillium molds (or produced synthetically) and used in the treatment of various infections and diseases
   types:

   Amoxil, Augmentin, Larotid, Polymox, Trimox, amoxicillin

   an antibiotic; a semisynthetic oral penicillin (trade names Amoxil and Larotid and Polymox and Trimox and Augmentin) used to treat bacterial infections

   Polycillin, Principen, SK-Ampicillin, ampicillin

   semisynthetic penicillin (trade names Principen and Polycillin and SK-Ampicillin)

   Fulvicin, griseofulvin

   a kind of penicillin (a fungicidal antibiotic with the trade name Fulvicin) produced by molds of the genus Penicillium

   methicillin

   antibiotic drug of the penicillin family used in the treatment of certain staphylococcal infections

   penicillinase-resistant antibiotic

   a form of penicillin that is not rendered inactive by penicillinase

   penicillin F

   the first form of penicillin that was isolated in Great Britain

   benzylpenicillin, penicillin G

   the penicillin that constitutes the principal component of many commercial antibiotics

   penicillin O

   a penicillin that is similar in antibiotic action to penicillin G but is obtained differently

   penicillin V, phenoxymethyl penicillin

   a crystalline penicillin similar in action to penicillin G but more resistant to the action of gastric acids

   Pipracil, piperacillin

   a synthetic type of penicillin antibiotic (trade name Pipracil) used for moderate to severe infections

   Nafcil, nafcillin

   a penicillinase-resistant form of penicillin (trade name Nafcil) used (usually in the form of its sodium salt) to treat infections caused by penicillin-resistant strains of staphylococci

   oxacillin

   a form of penicillin resistant to penicillinase and effective against penicillin-resistant staphylococci

   Ledercillin VK, penicillin V potassium

   a form of penicillin V (trade name Ledercillin VK)

   type of:

   antibiotic, antibiotic drug

   a chemical substance derivable from a mold or bacterium that can kill microorganisms and cure bacterial infections