Vancomycin

//ˌvæŋ.kəˈmaɪ.sɪn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A glycopeptide antibiotic C₆₆H₇₅Cl₂N₉O₂₄ produced by the actinomycete Amycolaptosis orientalis, used in the form of its hydrochloride C₆₆H₇₅Cl₂N₉O₂₄·HCl against Gram-positive bacteria, especially staphylococci resistant to meticillin and enterococci. uncountable

    "Vancomycin was given intravenously in doses of 0.5 gm. at 6-hour intervals for periods of up to 4 weeks to 9 patients, all of whom had staphylococcal infections."

  2. 2
    an antibiotic (trade name Vancocin) effective against some bacterial infections wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
antibioticpenicillinvancocin

Example

More examples

"In a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigators describe how the change made vancomycin 1,000 times more effective against both drug-resistant enterococci and the original forms of the microorganism."

Etymology

From vanquish + -o- + -mycin (“antibiotic produced by a Streptomyces strain”).

Related phrases

gram positive

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