bacterium

[ bak-teer-ee-uhm ]
See synonyms for bacterium on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. singular of bacteria.

Origin of bacterium

1
1840–50; <New Latin <Greek baktḗrion, diminutive of baktēría staff; akin to báktron stick, Latin baculum, bacillum

Words Nearby bacterium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bacterium in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bacterium

bacterium

/ (bækˈtɪərɪəm) /


noun
  1. the singular of bacteria

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

Scientific definitions for bacterium

bacterium

[ băk-tîrē-əm ]


Plural bacteria
  1. Any of a large group of one-celled organisms that lack a cell nucleus, reproduce by fission or by forming spores, and in some cases cause disease. They are the most abundant lifeforms on Earth, and are found in all living things and in all of the Earth's environments. Bacteria usually live off other organisms. Bacteria make up most of the kingdom of prokaryotes (Monera or Prokaryota), with one group (the archaea) sometimes classified as a separate kingdom. See also archaeon prokaryote.

usage For bacterium

It is important to remember that bacteria is the plural of bacterium, and that saying a bacteria is incorrect. It is correct to say The soil sample contains millions of bacteria, and Tetanus is caused by a bacterium.

Other words from bacterium

  • bacterial adjective

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.