Word.ws English Dictionary

paclitaxel

UK/ˌpak.lɪˈtak.sɛl/US/ˌpæk.lɪˈtæk.sl̩/

paclitaxel noun: a taxane antineoplastic drug C₄₇H₅₁NO₁₄ originally isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, but now typically derived as a semisynthetic product of the English yew; it interferes with microtubule function and inhibits cell division, and is used in the treatment of some cancers, especially those of the breast and ovary.

Noun

paclitaxel (uncountable)

  1. A taxane antineoplastic drug C₄₇H₅₁NO₁₄ originally isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, but now typically derived as a semisynthetic product of the English yew; it interferes with microtubule function and inhibits cell division, and is used in the treatment of some cancers, especially those of the breast and ovary.

Origin of paclitaxel

From Pac(ific yew) + Latin (brevifo)li(a) + -taxel (“alteration of taxol”).

Words formed from paclitaxel

  • paclitaxel ceribate
  • paclitaxel poliglumex
  • paclitaxel trevatide
  • -taxel

Questions about paclitaxel

What does paclitaxel mean?
Paclitaxel means a taxane antineoplastic drug C₄₇H₅₁NO₁₄ originally isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, but now typically derived as a semisynthetic product of the English yew; it interferes with microtubule function and inhibits cell division, and is used in the treatment of some cancers, especially those of the breast and ovary.
What part of speech is paclitaxel?
Paclitaxel is a noun.
How do you pronounce paclitaxel?
Paclitaxel is pronounced /ˌpak.lɪˈtak.sɛl/ (UK).

Words near paclitaxel in the dictionary

  1. Packwoods
  2. packy
  3. packyear
  4. packyears
  5. paclabutrazol
  6. paclitaxel
  7. paclobutrazol
  8. Pacman conjecture
  9. Pacman frog
  10. Pacman frogs
  11. paco

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paclitaxel (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “paclitaxel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paclitaxel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.