Etymology

chloramphenicol

chlor·am·phen·i·col
C3H4L1O1R1A1M3P3H4E1N1I1C3O1L1

Today it means: A broad-spectrum antibiotic C₁₁H₁₂Cl₂N₂O₅ isolated from cultures of a soil actinomycete (Streptomyces venezuelae) or prepared synthetically and used against serious infections such as typhoid fever. Full definition →

English (gly)col ← Middle English alcofol ← Medieval Latin alcoho
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰl̥h₃rós
  3. Proto-Hellenic*kʰlōrós
  4. Ancient Greekχλωρός (khlōrós)
  5. Englishchloro-
  6. Englishchlor-
  7. Egyptianjmn
  8. Ancient GreekᾸ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)
  9. LatinAmmōn
  10. Latinammoniacus
  11. Englishammonia
  12. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  13. Englisham(ide)
  14. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  15. Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
  16. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
  17. Ancient Greekφαίνω (phaínō)
  18. Frenchphéno-
  19. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  20. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  21. Frenchphényle
  22. Englishphenyl
  23. Englishpheno-
  24. Englishphen-
  25. Egyptiannṯr
  26. Egyptiannṯrj
  27. Ancient Greekνῐ́τρον (nĭ́tron)
  28. Englishni(tro)-
  29. Proto-Hellenic*dlukús
  30. Ancient Greekγλῠκῠ́ς (glŭkŭ́s)
  31. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  32. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  33. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  34. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  35. Medieval Latinalcoho
  36. Middle Englishalcofol
  37. Englishalcohol
  38. English(gly)col
  39. English todaychloramphenicol

From chlor- + am(ide) + phen- + ni(tro)- + (gly)col.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.