pneumococcus

American  

[noo-muh-kok-uhs, nyoo‑] / ˌnu məˈkɒk əs, ˌnju‑ /

noun

pneumococci plural

1. a bacterium, Diplococcus pneumoniae, causing lobar pneumonia and associated with certain other diseases, as pericarditis and meningitis.

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pneumococcus British  

/ ˌnjuːməʊˈkɒkəs /

noun

1. a spherical bacterium that occurs in the respiratory tract, esp the Gram-positive Diplococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pneumococcal
  adjective
• pneumococcic
  adjective
• pneumococcous
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pneumococci
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pneumococcus

From New Latin, dating back to 1885–90; see origin at pneumo- , -coccus

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pneumococcus pneumococci

In the case of pneumococcus, for example, immunizing children indirectly protects older adults by limiting transmission.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

You know, you and I can be exposed to a pneumococcus and one person gets pneumonia and the other doesn’t.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 17, 2019

We have children’s vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, chickenpox, polio, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, pneumococcus, haemophilus influenzae and meningococcal disease.

From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2018

The antibiotic I received, a common first-line treatment, covers pneumococcus as well as other bacterial invaders.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2016

In the early 1920s, Griffith, a medical officer at the British Ministry of Health, began to investigate a bacterium named Streptococcus pneumoniae or pneumococcus.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Then the entire group received injections of Type I pneumococci.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now from South Africa comes an alarming report about the appearance of one or more strains of pneumococci that largely defy the germ-killing powers not only of penicillin but of most other antibiotics.

From Time Magazine Archive

This would combat the infection if pneumococci, rather than tubercle bacilli, were the cause.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now, just as the pneumococci seem to be gaining the upper hand, medical researchers have developed a powerful new weapon against them.

From Time Magazine Archive

If there is trouble with the first dentition and food is allowed to collect, staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci and colon bacilli may be present.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various