microbe

American  

[mahy-krohb] / ˈmaɪ kroʊb /

noun

• microbes
  plural

1. a microorganism, especially a pathogenic bacterium.

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microbe British  

/ ˈmaɪkrəʊb /

noun

1. any microscopic organism, esp a disease-causing bacterium

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microbe Scientific  

/ mī′krōb′ /

1. A microorganism, especially a bacterium that causes disease.

2. See Note at germ

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• microbeless
  adjective
• microbial
  adjective
• microbian
  adjective
• microbic
  adjective
• nonmicrobic
  adjective
• unmicrobial
  adjective
• unmicrobic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• microbes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of microbe

1880–85; < French < Greek mīkro- micro- + bíos life

Explanation

Microbe is a somewhat outdated way for scientists to talk about the tiny bugs that cause diseases. When you get the flu, you can blame a microbe. In the nineteenth century, the idea that germs caused illness was brand new, and doctors referred to both germs and microbes interchangeably. The word microorganism is more scientifically precise, and in fact microbe is a shortened form of that long, Greek-rooted word. Mikro means "small," and in microbe it's combined with bios, or "life."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

microbe microbes

Like any pandemic, the Black Death was simultaneously a biological and a social event—shaped by both the innate characteristics of a microbe and such all-too-human factors as political systems, religious beliefs and public-health responses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

But new research suggests that a key marine microbe, Nitrosopumilus maritimus, may already be adjusting to warmer and more nutrient-poor conditions.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 11, 2026

Scientists believe additional gene microbe links likely exist, but proving them is difficult because genetic and environmental factors overlap in everyday life.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 23, 2025

One previous piece of research on Neanderthal DNA also showed that modern humans and Neanderthals shared an oral microbe - a type of bacteria found in our saliva.

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025

It might be a microbe, a strand of lost nucleic acid, a molecule of enzyme, or a nameless hairless little being with sharp gray eyes.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

"I would have expected these microbes to have dried out," said Regberg, who studies space station bacteria and was a co-author on the paper.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

Scientists were surprised that microbes like these could endure exposure on the exterior of the space station.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found that gut microbes can transform nitrate and iron from food into molecules that may help protect against cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

Those changes were accompanied by predictable shifts in gut microbes, providing evidence that the medications themselves may be responsible for at least some of the observed differences.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

The Martians of H. G. Wells and Orson Welles, preoccupied with the suppression of Bournemouth and Jersey City, never noticed until too late that their immunological defenses were unavailing against the microbes of Earth.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• bacillus
• bacterium
• bug
• germ
• microorganism
• pathogen
• virus