PENICILLIUM (penicillia)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: penicillia   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Penicillium mean? 

• PENICILLIUM (noun)
  The noun PENICILLIUM has 1 sense:

1. genus of fungi commonly growing as green or blue molds on decaying food; used in making cheese and as a source of penicillin

  Familiarity information: PENICILLIUM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PENICILLIUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Genus of fungi commonly growing as green or blue molds on decaying food; used in making cheese and as a source of penicillin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

genus Penicillium; Penicillium

Hypernyms ("Penicillium" is a kind of...):

fungus genus (includes lichen genera)

Holonyms ("Penicillium" is a member of...):

family Moniliaceae; Moniliaceae (family of imperfect fungi having white or brightly colored hyphae and spores that are produced directly on the mycelium and not aggregated in fruiting bodies)

 Context examples 

An antineoplastic antibiotic derived from various Penicillium fungal species.

(Mycophenolic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

An antifungal agent derived from the mold Penicillium griseofulvum that is used to treat fungal infections of the skin and nails.

(Griseofulvin, NCI Thesaurus)

Ochratoxin A is a widespread, naturally occurring mycotoxin that is produced by some fungi, especially by Aspergillus and Penicillium, and is a very common food contaminant found on grains, coffee beans, nuts, decaying vegetation, moldy cereals and animal feeds.

(Ochratoxin A, NCI Thesaurus)