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bacteria

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bacteria¹

  • /bakˈtɪə̯.ri.ə/ UK
  • /bækˈtɪɹ.i.ə/ US

Rhymes with -ɪəɹiə

Where it comes from

Borrowed from New Latin bacteria, plural of bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “little rod”); by surface analysis, bacteri(um) + -a.

noun

  1. plural plural of bacterium

noun bacterias

  1. US A type, species, or strain of bacterium. 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, alternative, proscribed Alternative form of bacterium
  3. derogatory, slang Lowlife, slob (could be treated as plural or singular).

bacteria²

  • /bakˈtɪə̯.ri.ə/ UK
  • /bækˈtɪɹ.i.ə/ US

Rhymes with -ɪəɹiə

Where it comes from

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

noun bacteriae

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

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: microbe, bacterial, bacteriological, listeriosis, blight, organism, germ, bug, lactic, bac, tremblay, ries, antimicrobials, cells, coliforms, germs

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MLA

"bacteria." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bacteria. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bacteria. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bacteria

Chicago

"bacteria." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bacteria.

BibTeX
@misc{bacteria_2026,
  title = {bacteria},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bacteria},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}