noun[mass noun] Medicine
A bacterial antibiotic used as an alternative to penicillin.
- The drug is obtained from the bacterium Streptomyces spectabilis
- For penicillin-allergic patients, an alternative is spectinomycin.
- In Streptomyces, myo-inositol is used in the synthesis of antibiotics, such as spectinomycin.
- If the condition does not clear up after treatment by traditional antibiotics, your doctor may prescribe stronger variations such as quinolene, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime or spectinomycin.
1960s: from the specific epithet spectabilis (see above), literally 'visible, remarkable' + -mycin.
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Line breaks: spec¦tino|mycin
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