Word.ws English Dictionary

beta-lactam

beta-lactam noun: a lactam having a four-membered ring structure; a structural element of many antibiotics such as penicillin.

Noun

beta-lactam (plural beta-lactams)

  1. A lactam having a four-membered ring structure; a structural element of many antibiotics such as penicillin.

Forms of beta-lactam

pluralbeta-lactams
alternative formβ-lactam
alternative formbetalactam

Origin of beta-lactam

From beta + lactam, where beta refers to the position of the carbon atom to which the nitrogen is attached.

Words formed from beta-lactam

Questions about beta-lactam

What does beta-lactam mean?
Beta-lactam means a lactam having a four-membered ring structure; a structural element of many antibiotics such as penicillin.
What part of speech is beta-lactam?
Beta-lactam is a noun.
What is the plural of beta-lactam?
The plural of beta-lactam is beta-lactams.

Words near beta-lactam in the dictionary

  1. beta-compactifications
  2. beta-glucan
  3. beta-glucans
  4. beta-glucosidase
  5. beta-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin
  6. beta-lactam
  7. beta-lactamase
  8. beta-lactamases
  9. beta-lactamic
  10. beta-lactams
  11. beta-lipoprotein

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: beta-lactam (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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