Etymology

azithromycin

A1Z10I1T1H4R1O1M3Y4C3I1N1

Today it means: A semisynthetic macrolide antibiotic C₃₈H₇₂N₂O₁₂ (trademarks Zithromax, Z-PAK) that is derived from erythromycin and is used especially as an antibacterial agent. Full definition →

English (er)ythromycin ← French azote ← Ancient Greek ζωή (zōḗ)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*gʷih₃wós
  7. Proto-Indo-European*gʷíh₃weti
  8. Proto-Hellenic*gʷyṓw-ō
  9. Proto-Hellenic*d͏̌ṓwō
  10. Ancient Greekζώω (zṓō)
  11. Ancient Greekζῶ (zô)
  12. Ancient Greekζωή (zōḗ)
  13. Frenchazote
  14. Englishazote
  15. Englishaz-
  16. English(Streptomyces) erythr(eus)
  17. English(er)ythromycin
  18. English todayazithromycin

From az- + (er)ythromycin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.