Penicillin

[penit͡sɪˈliːn]

/[penit͡sɪˈliːn]/ noun

The verdict

“Penicillin” is uncommon German (frequency #53,148 among 3,409 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,148
frequency rank, German
3,409
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eines der ältesten Antibiotika, hergestellt auf der Basis eines Schimmelpilzes

Corpus desk

Index DE-penicillin · Penicillin · German

Penicillin · rank #53,148 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,148
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,409
  • PHOTO-FINISH Peiniger

Nearest frequency peer: Peiniger (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Penicillin“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Penicillin“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Penicillin
PropertyValue
HeadwordPenicillin
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[penit͡sɪˈliːn]
Letters10
Frequency rank#53,148
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Penicillin“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Penicillinfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Peiniger“ (#53,147), „Personenschutz“ (#53,150), „Patina“ (#53,145). Unter 3,409 „P“-Lemmata liegt „Penicillin“ bei #53,148. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Penicillin is uncommon German at frequency #53,148 among 3,409 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [penit͡sɪˈliːn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "eines der ältesten Antibiotika, hergestellt auf der Basis eines Schimmelpilzes".

No misspelling variants are generated for Penicillin in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Penicillin, spelled P-E-N-I-C-I-L-L-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    eines der ältesten Antibiotika, hergestellt auf der Basis eines Schimmelpilzes

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Penicillin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Das ‚Wundermedikament‘ Penicillin wurde erstmals während des Zweiten Weltkriegs in großem Maßstab eingesetzt, und man sah eine Zukunft ohne ansteckende Krankheiten voraus.“

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Penicillin"?
"Penicillin" is spelled P-E-N-I-C-I-L-L-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is [penit͡sɪˈliːn].
What does "Penicillin" mean?
As a noun, "Penicillin" means: eines der ältesten Antibiotika, hergestellt auf der Basis eines Schimmelpilzes
How do you pronounce "Penicillin"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Penicillin" is [penit͡sɪˈliːn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Penicillin" come from?
"Penicillin" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Penicillin", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list