English

3D diagram of a bacterium

2D, labelled diagram of bacterium

Shapes of bacteria

Noun

bacterium ‎(plural bacteria)

1. (microbiology) A single celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.
   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

Usage notes

• In most formal writing, bacterium is the singular form of the noun, and bacteria the plural form. This is in accord with the word's Latin etymology. However, in ordinary speech, some speakers use bacteria as a singular, with plural either bacteria or bacterias. This is usually considered incorrect.

Hyponyms

• See also Wikisaurus:bacterium

Hypernyms

• prokaryote

Derived terms

• eubacterium
• archaebacterium / archebacterium
• urobacterium

Translations

External links

• bacterium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

See also

• bacillus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /bakˈteː.ri.um/, [bakˈteː.ri.ũ]

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βακτήριον ‎(baktḗrion, “small staff”), from βακτηρία ‎(baktēría).

Noun

bactērium n ‎(genitive bactēriī); second declension

1. (microbiology) bacterium

Inflection

Second declension.

References

• BACTERIUM in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)