Meanings
nounpenicillin (countable and uncountable, plural penicillins)
plural penicillins
- countableuncountablemedicineAny of a group of narrow-spectrum antibiotics obtained from Penicillium molds or synthesized, that have a beta-lactam structure and are active against gram-positive bacteria and used in the treatment of various infections and diseases.
- countableuncountablebiologyA blue mold of the genus Penicillium that produces penicillin.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*pes-
- Proto-Indo-European*pes-ni-s
- Proto-Italic*peznis
- Latinpēnis
- Latinpēniculus
- Latinpēnicillum
- Englishpenicillin
From translingual Penicillium + -in. Coined by Alexander Fleming after Penicillium notatum (now Penicillium chrysogenum), a fungus from which penicillin is obtained.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بِنِسِلِين
- بِنِسِلِين (binisilīn)antibiotic
Basque penizilina
- penizilinaantibiotic
Bulgarian пеницили́н
- пеницили́н (penicilín)antibiotic
Catalan penicil·lina
- penicil·linaantibiotic
Chinese Mandarin 青黴素 /青霉素, 盤尼西林 /盘尼西林
- 青黴素 /青霉素 (qīngméisù)antibiotic
- 盤尼西林 /盘尼西林 (pánníxīlín)antibiotic
Czech penicilín
- penicilínantibiotic
Danish penicillin
- penicillinantibiotic
Dutch penicilline
- penicillineantibiotic
Esperanto penicilino
- penicilinoantibiotic
Finnish penisilliini
- penisilliiniantibiotic
French pénicilline
- pénicillineantibiotic
German Penicillin, Penizillin
- Penicillinantibiotic
- Penizillinantibiotic
Greek πενικιλίνη
- πενικιλίνη (penikilíni)antibiotic
Hebrew פניצילין
- פניציליןantibiotic
Hindi पेनिसिलिन
- पेनिसिलिन (penisilin)antibiotic
Hungarian penicillin
- penicillinantibiotic
Icelandic penisillín
- penisillínantibiotic
Indonesian penisilin
- penisilinantibiotic
Italian penicillina
- penicillinaantibiotic
Japanese ペニシリン
- ペニシリン (penishirin)antibiotic
Korean 페니실린
- 페니실린 (penisillin)antibiotic
Lithuanian penicilinas
- penicilinasantibiotic
Norwegian Bokmål penicillin
- penicillinantibiotic
Persian پنیسیلین
- پنیسیلین (penisilin)antibiotic
Polish penicylina
- penicylinaantibiotic
Portuguese penicilina
- penicilinaantibiotic
Romanian penicilină
- penicilinăantibiotic
Russian пеницилли́н
- пеницилли́н (penicillín)antibiotic
Slovak penicilín
- penicilínantibiotic
Spanish penicilina
- penicilinaantibiotic
Swedish penicillin
- penicillinantibiotic
Tamil பெனிசிலின்
- பெனிசிலின் (peṉiciliṉ)antibiotic
Thai เพนิซิลลิน
- เพนิซิลลิน (pâynísíllin)antibiotic
Turkish penisilin
- penisilinantibiotic
Ukrainian пеніцилі́н
- пеніцилі́н (penicylín)antibiotic
Vietnamese penicillin
- penicillinantibiotic
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with penicillin
amoxicillinampicillintheophyllinepiperacillinoxacillinticarcillincarbenicillincloxacillindicloxacillinnafcillinbenzylpenicillincarindacillin-cillinmeticillinphenoxymethylpenicillin
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
penicillin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penicillin
MLA
“penicillin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penicillin. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “penicillin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penicillin.
Source: penicillin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.