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rickettsia

[ ri-ket-see-uh ]

noun

, plural rick·ett·si·ae [ri-, ket, -see-ee], rick·ett·si·as [ri-, ket, -see-, uh, z].
  1. any member of the genus Rickettsia, comprising rod-shaped to coccoid microorganisms that resemble bacteria but can be as small as a large virus and reproduce only inside a living cell, parasitic in fleas, ticks, lice, and mites and transmitted by bite to vertebrate hosts, including humans, causing such severe diseases as typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
  2. any rickettsia or rickettsialike microorganism of the orders Rickettsiales and Chlamydiales.


rickettsia

/ rɪˈkɛtsɪə /

noun

  1. any of a group of parasitic bacteria that live in the tissues of ticks, mites, and other arthropods, and cause disease when transmitted to man and other animals
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • rickˈettsial, adjective
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Other Words From

  • rick·ettsi·al adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rickettsia1

1915–20; < New Latin, after Howard T. Ricketts (1871–1910), U.S. pathologist; -ia
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rickettsia1

C20: named after Howard T. Ricketts (1871–1910), US pathologist

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ricketsrickettsial disease