Etymology

metronidazole

M3E1T1R1O1N1I1D2A1Z10O1L1E1

Today it means: An antibiotic of the nitroimidazole group, used to treat vaginal trichomoniasis, amebiasis, and infections by anaerobic bacteria. Full definition →

English imidazole ← French azote ← Ancient Greek ζωή (zōḗ)
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*médʰu
  2. Proto-Hellenic*métʰu
  3. Ancient Greekμέθυ (méthu)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  5. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  6. GermanMethy
  7. Englishme(thyl)
  8. Egyptiannṯr
  9. Egyptiannṯrj
  10. Ancient Greekνῐ́τρον (nĭ́tron)
  11. Englishnitro-
  12. Egyptianjmn
  13. Ancient GreekᾸ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)
  14. LatinAmmōn
  15. Latinammoniacus
  16. Englishammonia
  17. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  18. Englishamide
  19. Englishimide
  20. Proto-Indo-European*né
  21. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  22. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
  23. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
  24. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  25. Proto-Indo-European*gʷih₃wós
  26. Proto-Indo-European*gʷíh₃weti
  27. Proto-Hellenic*gʷyṓw-ō
  28. Proto-Hellenic*d͏̌ṓwō
  29. Ancient Greekζώω (zṓō)
  30. Ancient Greekζῶ (zô)
  31. Ancient Greekζωή (zōḗ)
  32. Frenchazote
  33. Englishazote
  34. Englishazo-
  35. Englishazole
  36. Englishimidazole
  37. English todaymetronidazole

From me(thyl) + -tronidazole (“alteration of nitroimidazole”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.