Etymology

tetracycline

T1E1T1R1A1C3Y4C3L1I1N1E1

Today it means: A yellow crystalline broad-spectrum antibiotic C₂₂H₂₄N₂O₈ produced by streptomyces or synthetically. Full definition →

English tetracyclic ← Classical Latin cyclicus ← French cyclique
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʷétwores
  3. Ancient Greekτέσσᾰρες (téssăres)
  4. Ancient Greekτετρᾰ- (tetră-)
  5. Englishtetra-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kʷékʷlos
  8. Proto-Hellenic*kʷókʷlos
  9. Proto-Hellenic*kúklos
  10. Ancient Greekκύκλος (kúklos)
  11. Ancient Greekκυκλῐκός (kuklĭkós)
  12. Classical Latincyclicu
  13. Middle Frenchcyclique
  14. Frenchcyclique
  15. Classical Latincyclicus
  16. Englishcyclic
  17. Englishtetracyclic
  18. English todaytetracycline

From tetracyclic + -ine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.