bacteroid

or bac·te·ri·oid

[bak-tuh-roid or bak-teer-ee-oid]

noun

any of the rod-shaped or branched bacteria in the root nodules of nitrogen-fixing plants.

adjective

Also bac·te·roi·dal, bac·te·ri·oi·dal. resembling bacteria.

Origin of bacteroid

First recorded in 1850–55; bacter- + -oid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for bacteroid

bacteroid

adjective

resembling a bacterium

noun

any rodlike bacterium of the genus Bacteroides, occurring in the gut of humans and 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