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gentamicin

[jen-tuh-mahy-sin]
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noun Pharmacology.
  1. a highly toxic broad-spectrum antibiotic mixture of related aminoglycoside substances derived from the actinomycete bacterium Micromonospora purpurea, used in its sulfate form in the treatment of severe Gram-negative infections.
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Origin of gentamicin

1963; respelling of gentamycin, probably equivalent to gent(ian violet) + -a- (as in kanamycin) + -mycin; so called from the color of the source bacterium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for gentamicin

gentamicin

noun
  1. a broad-spectrum antibiotic used in the treatment of serious infections
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Word Origin

C20: from genta (of unknown origin) + -mycin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012