micrococcus

American  

[mahy-kruh-kok-uhs] / ˌmaɪ krəˈkɒk əs /

noun

Bacteriology.

micrococci plural

1. any spherical bacterium of the genus Micrococcus, occurring in irregular masses, many species of which are pigmented and are saprophytic or parasitic.

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micrococcus British  

/ ˌmaɪkrəʊˈkɒkəs /

noun

1. any spherical Gram-positive bacterium of the genus Micrococcus : family Micrococcaceae

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Other Word Forms

• micrococcal
  adjective
• micrococcic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of micrococcus

< New Latin (1872); see micro-, coccus

Example Sentences

This disease is caused by a small micrococcus, the organisms joined in pairs.

From Disease and Its Causes by Councilman, William Thomas

There are also two pigment forming bacteria, Micrococcus prodigiosus, which produces intensely red spots, and the yellow micrococcus of osteomyelitis.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 530, February 27, 1886 by Various

There was the bacillus anthracis; there was the micrococcus; there was the Bacterium termo, and the Bacterium lactis—that's what turns the goat milk sour even to this day, Hare-Lip; and there were Schizomycetes without end.

From The Scarlet Plague by Grant, Gordon

Petrone believes it was due to a chromogenic micrococcus, and relieved the patient by the use of a five per cent solution of caustic potash.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)

What is remarkable is that animals inoculated with the attenuated micrococcus become for a varying length of time refractory to the action of the most formidable parasites of this kind.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884 by Various