Wiktionary

bacteria

See also: Bacteria, bactéria, and bacterià

English

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scanning electron micrograph of E. coli bacteria

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Irregular plural of bacterium from New Latin bactēria, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion), little rod.

Noun

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bacteria

  1. plural of bacterium

Noun

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bacteria (plural bacterias)

  1. (US) A type, species, or strain of bacterium.
    • 2002, A.C. Panchdhari, Water Supply and Sanitary Installations‎[1], 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 177:
      Anaerobic bacteria function in the absence of oxygen, where as aerobic bacteria require sunlight and also oxygen. Both these bacterias are capable of breaking down the organic matter […]
  2. (US, proscribed) Alternative form of bacterium.
  3. (derogatory, slang) Lowlife, slob (could be treated as plural or singular).
Usage notes
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  • This is the plural form of the word. While it is often used as if it were singular (as a collective noun), this is considered nonstandard by some in the US and more elsewhere. See the usage examples under bacterium.
Derived terms
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Translations
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bacterium — see bacterium
See also
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Etymology 2

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From New Latin bactēria, from Ancient Greek βακτηρίᾱ (baktēríā, “rod, stick”).

Noun

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bacteria (plural bacteriae)

  1. (dated, medicine) An oval bacterium, as distinguished from a spherical coccus or rod-shaped bacillus.

Anagrams

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Galician

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Noun

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bacteria f (plural bacterias)

  1. bacterium

Latin

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Noun

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bactēria

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of bactērium

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from New Latin bacteria, plural of bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion), little rod.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bacteria f (plural bacterias)

  1. bacterium

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Welsh

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Etymology

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From New Latin bactēria, plural of bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bacteria m (collective, singulative bacteriwm)

  1. bacteria

Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
bacteria facteria macteria unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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