microbiology
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of microbiology
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How does microbiology compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Microbiology is the study of very small things, both living and nonliving. If you're fascinated by looking at tiny organisms through a microscope, you should take a class in microbiology. If your job involves microbiology, you're probably a microbiologist, a scientist who studies microorganisms and other microscopic things. Notice the prefix micro- in all of those words? It means "extremely small," from the Greek root mikros, "small or slight." Add this to biology, "the science of living things," and you get microbiology. This branch of science involves looking closely at fungi, viruses, parasites, bacteria, and other microbes.
Vocabulary lists containing microbiology
Words to Live By: Bio
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bio
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Microbiology - High School
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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.
Developing the treatment required scientists from several disciplines to work together, including specialists in microbiology, synthetic biology, oncology, and immunology.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
That ability to keep functioning while transporting larger bacterial clusters points to possible future uses in microbiology, biomedical research, and precise manipulation of materials at the microscopic scale.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
This is where her doctor - Dr Brendan Healy, a consultant in infectious diseases and microbiology - believes she picked up the infection.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
After reading “Microbe Hunters,” Paul de Kruif’s popular 1926 account of pioneers in microbiology, Sabin found his calling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
So on November 8, 1973, Vishniac, his new microbiology equipment and a geologist companion were transported by helicopter from McMurdo Station to an area near Mount Balder, a dry valley in the Asgard range.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
