GC: n
S: http://www.theseam.com/update-on-china-buyers-of-u-s-cotton/ (last access: 17 May 2015); SDir – https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/fungicide (last access: 3 March 2020).
N: 1. fungicide (n.): 1889; from fungus (1520s, “a mushroom,” from Latin fungus “a mushroom, fungus;” used in English at first as a learned alternative to mushroom, funge was used in this sense late 14c.) and -cide (word-forming element meaning “killer,” from French -cide, from Latin -cida “cutter, killer, slayer,” from -cidere, comb. form of caedere “to strike down, chop, beat, hew, fell, slay,” from PIE *kae-id-, from root *(s)k(h)ai- “to strike”).
Related: Fungicidal.
2. Fungicide, also called antimycotic, any toxic substance used to kill or inhibit the growth of fungi. Fungicides are generally used to control parasitic fungi that either cause economic damage to crop or ornamental plants or endanger the health of domestic animals or humans. Most agricultural and horticultural fungicides are applied as sprays or dusts. Seed fungicides are applied as a protective covering before germination. Systemic fungicides, or chemotherapeutants, are applied to plants, where they become distributed throughout the tissue and act to eradicate existing disease or to protect against possible disease. In human and veterinary medicine, pharmaceutical fungicides are commonly applied as topical antifungal creams or are given as oral medications.
3. Older fungicidal agents for agricultural purposes included sulfur, lime, and their combinations; inorganic copper compounds such as bordeaux mixture and copper oxychloride, the latter widely used to control fungi in grapevines; and formaldehyde for gray smuts.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=fungicide&searchmode=none (last access: 17 May 2015). 2. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/222344/fungicide (last access: 17 May 2015). 3. GDT (last access: 17 May 2015).
SYN: antimycotic
S: EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/222344/fungicide (last access: 17 May 2015).
CR: antifungal, fungus, mycosis, pest, pesticide.
