chlamydia
Americannoun
-
Microbiology. any coccoid rickettsia of the genus Chlamydia, parasitic in birds and mammals, including humans, and causing various infections, especially of the eyes, as trachoma, lungs, as psittacosis, and genitourinary tract, as urethritis or chlamydia.
-
Also called lymphogranuloma venereum. Pathology. a widespread, often asymptomatic sexually transmitted disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a major cause of nongonococcal urethritis in men and pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy in women.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chlamydia
First recorded in 1945 in an article by Helen Jones, Geoffrey Rake, and Barbara Stearns as the proposed name of a taxon; 1966 in the current sense; from New Latin, from Greek chlamyd- (stem of chlamýs chlamys ) + New Latin -ia -ia
Compare meaning
How does chlamydia compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
People diagnosed with Alzheimer's had much higher levels of Chlamydia pneumoniae in both their retinas and brains compared to those with normal cognition.
From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026
Figure 22.13 Chlamydia, Spirochetes, Cyanobacteria, and Gram-positive bacteria are described in this table.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
The more common strain, Chlamydia pecorum, is responsible for most of the outbreak in Queensland and cannot be transmitted to humans.
From Seattle Times • May 8, 2018
Chlamydia affects male and female koalas, and even the little ones called joeys - who pick it up suckling from their mothers in the pouch.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2013
The first, Chlamydia pecorum, is causing a vast majority of health problems in Queensland’s koalas; the second, C. pneumoniae, is less common.
From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2012
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.
