抗菌性
解説 Definition
細菌の増殖を抑制または殺死する物質や性質を持つ形容詞。医療や日常生活で感染予防に使用されます。
Antibacterial describes something that kills bacteria or stops them from growing. The word is often used for soaps, medicines, cleaning products, and materials. It does not mean effective against all kinds of germs, only bacteria.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
anti- が付くと「〜に対抗する」なので、antibacterial はまず「bacterial（細菌の）に対抗する」と分解すると覚えやすいです。antivirus, anti-inflammatory と同じ見方が使えます。よく出るのは antibacterial soap / antibacterial agent / antibacterial properties。似た語の antibiotic は「体内で使う抗生物質」を指しやすい一方、antibacterial は石けん・素材・表面加工などにも広く使える「抗菌の」という形容詞、と区別すると定着しやすいです。
Break it into `anti-` + `bacterial`. `Anti-` means against, so the word clearly means something that works against bacteria. That same memory pattern helps with words like `antivirus` and `anti-inflammatory`. It often appears in phrases like `antibacterial soap` or `antibacterial agent`, so learn it as a common product word too.
例文
This antibacterial soap kills 99% of germs.
この抗菌石鹸は菌の99%を殺します。
The fabric has been treated with an antibacterial coating.
その布地は抗菌コーティングで処理されています。
Antibacterial mouthwash helps prevent oral infections.
抗菌うがい薬は口腔感染の予防に役立ちます。
antibacterial の類義語・関連語
antibacterial の語源・成り立ち Etymology
anti-はギリシャ語で「反対の」、bacterial は bacterium「細菌」から来る。bacterium はギリシャ語 bakterion「小さな杖」が元で、細菌の棒状の姿を映している。bacteriology や bactericide も同根で、「細菌に抗する」が核心だ。
`Antibacterial` is formed from Greek `anti-` "against" and `bacterial`, from `bacterium.` `Bacterium` goes back to Greek `bakterion`, meaning "little rod," probably based on the shape of some bacteria. So the word originally meant acting against bacteria, and related words include `bacteriology` and `bactericide.`
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