penicillamine
/ˌpɛn.ɪˈsɪl.ə.miːn/
penicillamine noun: a crystalline, sulfur-containing amino acid produced by the hydrolysis of penicillins, used pharmacologically as a chelating agent to remove heavy metals such as copper from the body, and as an anti-inflammatory agent, especially for rheumatoid arthritis; 2-amino-3-methyl-3-mercaptobutanoic acid, (CH₃)₂C(SH)CH(NH₂)COOH.

Noun
penicillamine (countable and uncountable, plural penicillamines)
- A crystalline, sulfur-containing amino acid produced by the hydrolysis of penicillins, used pharmacologically as a chelating agent to remove heavy metals such as copper from the body, and as an anti-inflammatory agent, especially for rheumatoid arthritis; 2-amino-3-methyl-3-mercaptobutanoic acid, (CH₃)₂C(SH)CH(NH₂)COOH.
Forms of penicillamine
| plural | penicillamines |
|---|
Origin of penicillamine
Blend of penicillin + amine.
Questions about penicillamine
- What does penicillamine mean?
- Penicillamine means a crystalline, sulfur-containing amino acid produced by the hydrolysis of penicillins, used pharmacologically as a chelating agent to remove heavy metals such as copper from the body, and as an anti-inflammatory agent, especially for rheumatoid arthritis; 2-amino-3-methyl-3-mercaptobutanoic acid, (CH₃)₂C(SH)CH(NH₂)COOH.
- What part of speech is penicillamine?
- Penicillamine is a noun.
- How do you pronounce penicillamine?
- Penicillamine is pronounced /ˌpɛn.ɪˈsɪl.ə.miːn/.
- What is the plural of penicillamine?
- The plural of penicillamine is penicillamines.
Words near penicillamine in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: penicillamine (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: “penicillamine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penicillamine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
