bacteria
UK /bakˈtɪə̯.ri.ə/ · US /bækˈtɪɹ.i.ə/ noun
Also a form of bacterium
Forms bacterias bacteriae
- noun (US) A type, species, or strain of bacterium.
- noun (derogatory, slang) Lowlife, slob (could be treated as plural or singular).
- noun (dated, medicine) An oval bacterium, as distinguished from a spherical coccus or rod-shaped bacillus.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin bacteria, plural of bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “little rod”); by surface analysis, bacteri(um) + -a.
From New Latin bactēria, from Ancient Greek βακτηρίᾱ (baktēríā, “rod, stick”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun See Bacterium.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bacteria”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details