A substance or agent that kills bacilli, used in medicine and disinfection.
From bacillus + -cide (Latin caedere, 'to kill'). The suffix -cide meaning 'killer of' was productively applied to bacillus to name substances that eliminate these bacteria.
Penicillin and other early antibiotics were celebrated as bacillicides because they could finally kill the bacteria responsible for deadly infections like pneumonia and syphilis.
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