Meanings
plural cephalosporins
- Any of a class of natural and synthetic antibiotics developed from Acremonium fungi, having a cepham structure.
Another important group of antibiotics, the cephalosporins, a class that includes more than twenty-five different drugs, are chemically distinct from the penicillins but act in the same way as cell wall inhibitors, as do vancomycin and bacitracin.
2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 63
Synonyms & antonyms
nounone of several broad spectrum antibiotic substances obtained from fungi and related to penicillin (trade names Mefoxin); addition of side chains has produced semisynthetic antibiotics with greater antibacterial activity
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From translingual Cephalosporium (now Acremonium), a genus of fungi, + -in.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan cefalosporina
- cefalosporinaantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Chinese Mandarin 頭孢菌素 /头孢菌素
- 頭孢菌素 /头孢菌素 (tóubāojūnsù)antibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Czech cefalosporin
- cefalosporinantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
French céphalosporine
- céphalosporineantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
German Zephalosporin
- Zephalosporinantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Italian cefalosporina
- cefalosporinaantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Polish cefalosporyna
- cefalosporynaantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Portuguese cefalosporina
- cefalosporinaantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Russian цефалоспори́н
- цефалоспори́н (cefalosporín)antibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Spanish cefalosporina
- cefalosporinaantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Turkish sefalosporin
- sefalosporinantibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Ukrainian цефалоспори́н
- цефалоспори́н (cefalosporýn)antibiotic derived from Acremonium fungi
Cite this entry
cephalosporin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cephalosporin
“cephalosporin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cephalosporin. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cephalosporin,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cephalosporin.
Source: cephalosporin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.