English edit

 
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Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

micro- +‎ organism

Pronunciation edit

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌmaɪ.kɹəʊˈɔː.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌmaɪ.kɹoʊˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/
  • (file)

Noun edit

microorganism (plural microorganisms)

  1. (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

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ 6. Compounding Rules in U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual, govinfo.gov
  2. ^ (microorganism*0.2),micro-organism at Google Ngram Viewer

Further reading edit

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French microorganisme.

Noun edit

microorganism n (plural microorganisme)

  1. microorganism

Declension edit