microbiology
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of microbiology
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How does microbiology compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Microbiology is the study of very small things, both living and nonliving. If you're fascinated by looking at tiny organisms through a microscope, you should take a class in microbiology. If your job involves microbiology, you're probably a microbiologist, a scientist who studies microorganisms and other microscopic things. Notice the prefix micro- in all of those words? It means "extremely small," from the Greek root mikros, "small or slight." Add this to biology, "the science of living things," and you get microbiology. This branch of science involves looking closely at fungi, viruses, parasites, bacteria, and other microbes.
Vocabulary lists containing microbiology
Words to Live By: Bio
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bio
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Microbiology - High School
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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.
Miranda Keith, a supervisor in Quest’s microbiology laboratory in Lenexa, Kansas, took a break from her supervisory duties last week to work 10-hour shifts examining stool samples at the company’s St. Louis lab.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
After reading “Microbe Hunters,” Paul de Kruif’s popular 1926 account of pioneers in microbiology, Sabin found his calling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
British Columbia health officer Bonnie Henry said the person's test came back as a presumptive positive on Friday, meaning that it still remains to be confirmed by a national microbiology lab.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
“These viruses are also what are called ‘low incidence, high consequences,’” said Robert Cross, a hantavirus researcher and assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
The clay hypothesis hardly excludes life on Mars, but it certainly carries us far enough to say that there is no compelling evidence for microbiology on Mars.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
