-mycin

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

   neomycin.

-mycin

combining form

1. indicating an antibiotic compound derived from a fungus

   streptomycin

Word History and Origins

Origin of -mycin¹

Perhaps originally in actinomycin; myc-, -in ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of -mycin¹

from Greek mukēs fungus + -in

Example Sentences

But researchers say this newly discovered compound is structurally and chemically unique from that other mycin and from all other antibiotics—meaning it could launch a whole new class of drugs.

From Scientific American

He once remarked, in an oblique reference to the First Violin Concerto, whose inspiration was the poem May Night by Tadeusz Mycin´ski: "Our national music is not the stiffened ghost of the polonaise or mazurka … It is rather the solitary, joyful, carefree song of the nightingale in a fragrant May night in Poland."

From The Guardian

The technological lineage of RIC and almost every other second-wave system can be traced back to Mycin, an expert system written at Stanford in the mid- 1970s.

From Time Magazine Archive

Named for a group of antibiotics, Mycin was the brainchild of a Ph.D. candidate named Edward Shortliffe, who designed it to help physicians diagnose certain infectious diseases and choose appropriate remedies.

From Time Magazine Archive

After painstakingly interviewing doctors about the process of diagnosis and treatment, Shortliffe and company programmed Mycin with some 500 rules to guide its decisions.

From Time Magazine Archive

Words That Use -mycin

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.

Examples of -mycin

An example of a word you may have encountered that features –mycin is erythromycin, “an antibiotic produced by an actinomycete,” a kind of fungus.

The first part of the word, erythro–, means “red.” The –mycin part of the word indicates an “antibiotic made from fungus.” Erythromycin literally means “red antibiotic made from fungus.”

What are some words that use the combining form –mycin?

• actinomycin
• Albamycin
• kanamycin (using the equivalent form of –mycin in Latin)
• neomycin
• vancomycin

What are some other forms that –mycin may be commonly confused with?

• -mancy
• miso-

Break it down!

The form vanco– means “from unexplained origin.” With this in mind, what does vancomycin literally mean?