Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
tet·ra·cy·cline
\\ˌte-trə-ˈsī-ˌklēn\\ noun ETYMOLOGY International Scientific Vocabulary tetracyclic having four fused hydrocarbon rings + -ine (II)
DATE 1952
: a yellow crystalline broad-spectrum antibiotic C
22H
24N
2O
8 produced by streptomyces or synthetically;
also : any of several chemically related antibiotics (as doxycycline)
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged
tet·ra·cy·cline
\ˌte.trəˈsīˌklīn, -_klə̇n\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary tetracyclic + -ine
1. : a yellow crystalline broad-spectrum antibiotic C22H24N2O8 derived from an octa-hydro-naphthacene, produced by a soil actinomycete (Streptomyces viridifaciens), or prepared from chlortetracycline by catalytic reduction, and administered usually in the form of its hydrochloride
2. : any of various derivatives of tetracycline (as chlortetracycline or oxytetracycline)