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spirillum

American  
[spahy-ril-uhm] / spaɪˈrɪl əm /

noun

Bacteriology.
  • spirilla
    plural
  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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

spirillum Scientific  
/ spī-rĭl′əm /
  • spirilla
    plural
  1. Any of various bacteria that are shaped like a spiral, such as the spirochete Treponema pallidum, which causes syphilis.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of spirillum

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


Compare meaning

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


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.

See Examples For:

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

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 Miron Elisha Hard

By far the most important of these is the spirillum or spirochete of Obermeier, which has been already carefully described.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

DEFINITION.—Relapsing fever is an epidemic contagious disease, the specific cause of which is not certainly known, although a peculiar spirillum appears to be constantly present in the blood.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

For the tick that carries the spirillum is blind and cannot climb any smooth surface.

From Sketches of the East Africa Campaign by Robert Valentine Dolbey

From carious teeth may be isolated streptothrix, leptothrix, spirilla and fusiform bacilli.

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

Then we have spiro-bacteria, the spirilla and the spirochetæ; the former having short open spirals, the latter long and closely wound spirals.

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

They consist of cells, single or grouped, which when spherical are called cocci, when rod-shaped, bacilli, when spiral, spirilla.

From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by Austin ?Malley

Examination of the blood prior to the invasion does not discover any spirilla.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

As early as 1873, spirilla were demonstrated in relapsing fever.

From The Evolution of Modern Medicine A Series of Lectures Delivered at Yale University on the Silliman Foundation in April, 1913 by William Osler

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