spirillum

American  

[spahy-ril-uhm] / spaɪˈrɪl əm /

noun

Bacteriology.

plural

spirilla

1. any of several spirally twisted, aerobic bacteria of the genus Spirillum, certain species of which are pathogenic for humans.

2. any of various similar microorganisms.

---

spirillum British  

/ spaɪˈrɪləm /

noun

1. any bacterium having a curved or spirally twisted rodlike body Compare coccus bacillus

2. any bacterium of the genus Spirillum, such as S. minus, which causes ratbite fever

---

spirillum Scientific  

/ spī-rĭl′əm /

plural

spirilla

1. Any of various bacteria that are shaped like a spiral, such as the spirochete Treponema pallidum, which causes syphilis.

---

Other Word Forms

• spirillar adjective

Etymology

Origin of spirillum

1870–75; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin spīr ( a ) ( spire ² ) + -illum diminutive suffix

Compare meaning

How does spirillum compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• spirillum vs. spirochete

Example Sentences

One is a wriggly spirillum, the other a cigar-shaped bacillus.

From Time Magazine Archive

That is a spirillum that lives in the blood of rats and mice.�

From Time Magazine Archive

The same is true of Schizomycetes, to which all the bacteria, bacillus, spirillum, and vibrio, and a number of other groups belong.

From The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Its Habitat and its Time of Growth by Hard, Miron Elisha

This definitely destroys the spirillum, and no further attacks of fever result; but this injection, once its work is done, does not confer immunity from other attacks.

From Sketches of the East Africa Campaign by Dolbey, Robert Valentine

The spirillum, volutans is often found in drinking water, and in common with some other specimens of this class is provided with flagellæ, sometimes at both extremities, which furnish the means of rapid locomotion.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891 by Various