coliform

[kol-uh-fawrm, koh-luh-]

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a coliform bacillus.

noun

coliform bacillus.

Origin of coliform

1850–55; < New Latin coli, genitive of Latin colum, colon colon² (the specific epithet of various species of bacteria inhabiting the colon, as Escherichia coli; construed as col- + -i-) + -form

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

Word Origin and History for coliform

adj.

1850s, "resembling a sieve," from Latin colum "strainer;" meaning "resembling a bacillus of the coli group" is from 1906, from coli + form.

coliform in Medicine

coliform

[kō′lə-fôrm′, kŏl′ə-]

adj.

Of or relating to the bacilli that commonly inhabit the intestines of humans and other vertebrates, especially the colon bacillus.

Related formsco′li•form′ n.