Colicine

/ˈkoʊlɪsiːn/ noun

Definition

An alternative or variant spelling of colicin, referring to antibacterial protein toxins produced by E. coli.

Etymology

A variant form of 'colicin' using the '-ine' suffix (common in chemical nomenclature) instead of '-in,' both referring to the same class of bacterial proteins discovered in the 20th century.

Kelly Says

Scientific terminology often has variant spellings (like colicin vs. colicine), a legacy of international scientists publishing in different languages—standardization is surprisingly recent in science!

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.