-mycin

American  

1. a combining form used in the names of antibiotics, usually fungal derivatives.

   neomycin.

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-mycin British  

combining form

1. indicating an antibiotic compound derived from a fungus

   streptomycin

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Usage

What does -mycin mean? The combining form -mycin is used like a suffix to name antibiotics, typically those that come from fungi. It can also be used to refer to antibiotics derived from the bacteria Streptomyces, which has a fungus-like structure. It is frequently used in medical terms.The form -mycin comes from a combination of two elements. The first is Greek mýkos, meaning “fungus.” The second is the suffix -in, a variant of -ine, which is used to name chemical terms. The form -mycin literally refers to chemicals from fungus (or fungus-like bacteria).What are variants of -mycin?Though -mycin doesn’t have any variants, it is related to the combining forms myc-, myceto-, myco-, -mycete, and -mycetes. Want to know more? Check out our Words That Use articles for each of these forms.

Etymology

Origin of -mycin

Perhaps originally in actinomycin; myc-, -in ²