&gt;(as far as I know, antibiotic and antibacterial are largely synonymous)<p>Not really.<p>Antimicrobial: an agent that kills bacteria or fungi.<p>Antibiotic: an agent that kills bacteria or fungi <i>in the body</i>.<p>This is a crucial distinction. Phenols have been around as antimicrobial disinfectants for over a century and a half, but you really don&#x27;t want to take them internally. Whereas something like penicillin VK -- alas, no longer very useful due to widespread resistance -- is pretty much safe to take in large doses, unless an immune response arises.<p>We&#x27;ve got plenty of antimicrobial agents; what we&#x27;re short on are ones that don&#x27;t poison us along with the target organisms when we take them.