chlamydia
Americannoun
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Microbiology. any coccoid rickettsia of the genus Chlamydia, parasitic in birds and mammals, including humans, and causing various infections, especially of the eyes, as trachoma, lungs, as psittacosis, and genitourinary tract, as urethritis or chlamydia.
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Also called lymphogranuloma venereum. Pathology. a widespread, often asymptomatic sexually transmitted disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a major cause of nongonococcal urethritis in men and pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy in women.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chlamydia
First recorded in 1945 in an article by Helen Jones, Geoffrey Rake, and Barbara Stearns as the proposed name of a taxon; 1966 in the current sense; from New Latin, from Greek chlamyd- (stem of chlamýs chlamys ) + New Latin -ia -ia
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For the first time, scientists showed that Chlamydia pneumoniae can travel to the retina, the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026
Chlamydia is not uncommon in other animals – koalas are suspected to have first caught it from livestock – but the spread and intensity of the disease amongst the marsupials is unmatched.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2024
Figure 22.13 Chlamydia, Spirochetes, Cyanobacteria, and Gram-positive bacteria are described in this table.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
She was heading to the chlamydia wards, which in 2018 were officially named the John Oliver Koala Chlamydia Ward after a grant was donated on the comedian’s behalf.
From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2020
The more common strain, Chlamydia pecorum, is responsible for most of the outbreak in Queensland and cannot be transmitted to humans.
From Seattle Times • May 8, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
