tetracycline

noun Pharmacology.

1. an antibiotic, C22H24H2O8, derived from chlortetracycline, used in medicine to treat a broad variety of infections.

noun

1. an antibiotic synthesized from chlortetracycline or derived from the bacterium Streptomyces viridifaciens: used in treating rickettsial infections and various bacterial infections. Formula: C 22 H 24 N 2 O 8

n.1952, with chemical suffix -ine (2) + tetracyclic “containing four fused hydrocarbon rings,” from tetra- + cyclic (see cycle (n.)). n.

1. A yellow crystalline compound synthesized or derived from certain actinomycetes of the genus Streptomyces and used as a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
2. An antibiotic, such as oxytetracycline, having the same basic structure.

1. A yellow crystalline compound, C22H24N2O8, synthesized or derived from several bacterial species of the genus Streptomyces and used as an antibiotic in bacterial infections. Other drugs of the tetracycline class have a similar chemical structure.