antibiotic
pronunciation
How to pronounce antibiotic in British English:
UK [ˌæntibaɪˈɒtɪk]
How to pronounce antibiotic in American English:
US [ˌæntibaɪˈɑːtɪk]
-
- Noun:
- a chemical substance derivable from a mold or bacterium that kills microorganisms and cures infections
-
- Adjective:
- of or relating to antibiotic drugs
Word Origin
- antibiotic (adj.)
- 1894, "destructive to micro-organisms," from French antibiotique (c. 1889), from anti- "against" (see anti-) + biotique "of (microbial) life," from Late Latin bioticus "of life" (see biotic). As a noun, first recorded 1941 in works of U.S. microbiologist Selman Waksman (1888-1973), discoverer of streptomycin. Earlier the adjective was used in a sense "not from living organisms" in debates over the origins of certain fossils.
Example
- 1. Cubicin is an antibiotic that fights bacteria in the body .
- 2. However , these studies focused on referral hospitals and patients who had already received antibiotic treatment .
- 3. Antibiotic resistance has now become a costly and dangerous problem .
- 4. The ingredient chloramphenicol is actually an antibiotic that fights certain bacteria .
- 5. Convenience and laziness top the list of causes of antibiotic resistance .