What I have heard in most use and practice, that "antibiotic" is limited to substances produced by living organisms, or a synthetic based on same.
Who cares what we call CS; it kills every bacteria it has been tested against, some fungi, some mycoplasmas and some virons. Let's be 18th century and call it a "pathogen bane". James-Osbourne: Holmes -----Original Message----- From: Marshall Dudley [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 2:49 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: CS>FTC regulations? But it does meet the adjective definition. So CS is antibiotic but is not an antibiotic. Would that be correct? Marshall Terry Dickinson wrote: English use - from the New Shorter Oxford Dictionary: antibiotic /%antIbVI"QtIk/ a. & n. m19. [f. anti- + Gk biotikos fit for life, f. bios life: see - otic.] A adj. 1 Doubting the possibility of life (in a particular environment). ml19. 2 Injurious to or destructive of living matter, esp. micro-organisms; of or pertaining to antibiotics. l19. B n. A substance which is capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of bacteria or other micro- organisms; spec. one that is produced by another micro-organism (or is a synthetic analogue of a microbial product), and is used therapeutically. m20. So, for my pennorth, CS does not meet the specific noun definition. Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: Marshall Dudley To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 3:06 PM Subject: Re: CS>FTC regulations? I believe by convention an antibiotic that is used on non-living things is called a disinfectant. The dictionary says that an antibiotic is anything that kills some forms of life. Marshall
