bacterium
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bacterium /bakˈtɪərɪəm/
▶noun (pl. bacteria /-rɪə/) a member of a large group of unicellular microorganisms (prokaryotes) which have cell walls but lack an organized nucleus and other structures, and include numerous disease-causing forms.
– derivatives
bacterial adjective,
bacterially adverb.
bacterial adjective,
bacterially adverb.
– origin C19: mod. L., from Gk baktērion, dimin. of baktēria ‘rod, cane’ (because the first ones to be discovered were rod-shaped).
usage: Bacteria, the plural form of bacterium, is sometimes mistakenly treated as a singular form.
'bacterium' also found in these Oxford entries:
abortus fever
- acetobacter
- acidophilus
- actinomycete
- avermectin
- bacillus
- bacteria
- bacterio-
- bacteriophage
- bacteriostat
- botulism
- brucellosis
- campylobacter
- chlamydia
- clostridium
- coccus
- corynebacterium
- crown gall
- cyanobacteria
- diplococcus
- E. coli
- erythromycin
- eubacteria
- gas gangrene
- gonococcus
- griseofulvin
- Hib
- klebsiella
- lactobacillus
- legionella
- listeria
- meningococcus
- mesophile
- microbe
- microorganism
- mycobacterium
- mycoplasma
- pasteurellosis
- pathogen
- plasmid
- pleomorphism
- pneumococcus
- prokaryote
- proteus
- pseudomonas
- rhizobium
- salmonella
- shigella
- shot hole
