noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An aminoglycoside and bactericidal antibiotic C₂₁H₃₉N₇O₁₂ that is produced by a soil actinomycete (Streptomyces griseus), is active against many bacteria, and is administered via intramuscular injection especially in the treatment of infections by gram-negative bacteria. It was the first drug to be successful against tuberculosis but is now chiefly used with other drugs because of its toxic side effects. uncountable
2. 2
   an antibiotic produced by the actinomycete Streptomyces griseus and used to treat tuberculosis wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

antibioticpenicillin

Etymology

From translingual Streptomyces + -in. By surface analysis, strepto- + -mycin.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.