ἀντί + βιωτικός

Antibiotic was coined by Selman Waksman in 1947 from Greek antí (against) and biōtikós (of or pertaining to life, from bios, life). Waksman defined an antibiotic as 'a chemical substance produced by microorganisms that has the capacity to inhibit the growth of, and even to destroy, bacteria and other microorganisms.' The word was necessary because the existing term 'antiseptic' covered substances applied to surfaces, not substances administered internally.

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 — a mold (Penicillium notatum) that killed Staphylococcus bacteria on his culture plates. He published the finding but did not develop it into a drug. Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain at Oxford developed penicillin into a usable medicine in 1940, just in time for World War II. Mass production began in 1943. The word 'antibiotic' did not exist when penicillin was discovered. The substance came first. The word followed.

The golden age of antibiotic discovery lasted from the 1940s to the 1960s. Streptomycin (Waksman's own discovery, 1943), chloramphenicol, tetracycline, erythromycin — each was a new weapon against bacterial infection. Diseases that had been death sentences became curable. The word 'antibiotic' became one of the most recognized scientific terms in any language.

Antibiotic resistance — the ability of bacteria to survive antibiotics through mutation and natural selection — was predicted by Fleming himself in his 1945 Nobel lecture. He warned that underdosing would breed resistant bacteria. The warning was ignored for decades. The WHO now classifies antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats to global health. The word 'against life' has met life that fights back.