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sulfonamide

American  
[suhl-fon-uh-mahyd, -mid, suhl-fuh-nam-ahyd, -id] / sʌlˈfɒn əˌmaɪd, -mɪd, ˌsʌl fəˈnæm aɪd, -ɪd /

noun

Pharmacology.

  1. sulfa drug.

sulfonamide Scientific  
/ sŭl-fŏn′ə-mīd′,-mĭd /

  1. Any of a group of organic sulfur compounds containing the radical SO 2 NH 2.

  2. ◆ Certain sulfonamides known as sulfa drugs are used as antibiotics to treat bacterial infections.

Etymology

Origin of sulfonamide

First recorded in 1900–05; sulfon(ic acid) + amide

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For example, 1972 saw a typhoid fever outbreak in Mexico that was stubbornly resistant to chloramphenicol, and when doctors switched to streptomycin, sulfonamide, and tetracycline, none of them worked, either.

From Slate • Jan. 5, 2021

In 1935, after trying 1,161 sulfonamide compounds, Dr. Fourneau finally found the formula which conquered the streptococci of puerperal fever and meningitis.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is the only sulfonamide compound which can be given rectally with success.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sulfathiazole is "the most important sulfonamide drug in use at present."

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.