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gentamicin

[ jen-tuh-mahy-sin ]
/ ˌdʒɛn təˈmaɪ sɪn /

noun Pharmacology.

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.

Nearby words

  1. gens du monde,
  2. genseng,
  3. genseric,
  4. gent,
  5. gent.,
  6. genteel,
  7. genteelism,
  8. gentes,
  9. gentian,
  10. gentian blue

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. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for gentamicin

gentamicin

/ (ˌdʒɛntəˈmaɪsɪn) /

noun

a broad-spectrum antibiotic used in the treatment of serious infections

Word Origin for gentamicin

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