halobacteria

[ hal-oh-bak-teer-ee-uh ]

plural noun

, Microbiology.

, singular hal·o·bac·te·ri·um [hal-oh-bak-, teer, -ee-, uh, m].

1. former name of the haloarchaea, assigned before the archaea were recognized as organisms distinct from bacteria.

Word History and Origins

Origin of halobacteria¹

First recorded in 1975–80; halo- + bacteria; compare New Latin Halobacterium a genus of such bacteria