microorganism
See also: microörganism and micro-organism
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌmaɪ.kɹəʊˈɔː.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌmaɪ.kɹoʊˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/
Audio (UK) (file)
Noun edit
microorganism (plural microorganisms)
- (microbiology) An organism that is too small to be seen by the unaided eye, especially a single-celled organism, such as a bacterium.
- The cud is then reswallowed and further digested by specialized microorganisms that live in the rumen.
Usage notes edit
- Whether viruses are alive, and thus whether they are microorganisms (microbes), is a matter of variable ontology; the semantic field of the word microorganism is often taken to include viruses in casual or broad terms, but not always in precise terms.
- GPO manual recommends using a hyphen to avoid doubling a vowel except after short prefixes.[1] However, microorganism is several times more common than micro-organism in print[2] and most dictionaries only have the spelling microorganism.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ 6. Compounding Rules in U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual, govinfo.gov
- ^ (microorganism*0.2),micro-organism at Google Ngram Viewer
Further reading edit
- “microorganism”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “microorganism”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “microorganism”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French microorganisme.
Noun edit
microorganism n (plural microorganisme)
Declension edit
Declension of microorganism
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) microorganism | microorganismul | (niște) microorganisme | microorganismele |
genitive/dative | (unui) microorganism | microorganismului | (unor) microorganisme | microorganismelor |
vocative | microorganismule | microorganismelor |