Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “penicillin” come from?

penicillin (English) comes from Translingual Penicillium, from Latin pēnicillum, from Latin -illus, from Latin -lus, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

penicillin (English): Any of a group of narrow-spectrum antibiotics...

Definitions

  1. Any of a group of narrow-spectrum antibiotics...

Ancestry of “penicillin”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1TranslingualPenicillium—
2Latinpēnicillum—
3Latin-illusUsed to form adjectives from nouns
4Latin-lusAlternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix
5Proto-Italic-elos—
6Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
7Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “penicillin”

  • penicillinase
  • benzylpenicillin
  • aminopenicillin
  • nonpenicillin
  • penicilloic
  • carboxypenicillin
  • 盤尼西林
  • penisilin
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →