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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bac·te·ri·a

Audio Help [bak-teer-ee-uh] Pronunciation Key

–plural noun, singular -te·ri·um

Audio Help [-teer-ee-uh

m] Pronunciation Key.

ubiquitous one-celled organisms, spherical, spiral, or rod-shaped and appearing singly or in chains, comprising the Schizomycota, a phylum of the kingdom Monera (in some classification systems the plant class Schizomycetes), various species of which are involved in fermentation, putrefaction, infectious diseases, or nitrogen fixation.

[Origin: 1905–10; < NL < Gk baktria, pl. of baktrion; see bacterium

]

—Related forms

bac·te·ri·al, adjective

bac·te·ri·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
bacteria

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bac·te·ri·a Audio Help (bāk-tîr'ē-ə) Pronunciation Key
n. Plural of bacterium.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bac·te·ri·um Audio Help (bāk-tîr'ē-əm) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. bac·te·ri·a (-tîr'ē-ə)
Any of the unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms of the class Schizomycetes, which vary in terms of morphology, oxygen and nutritional requirements, and motility, and may be free-living, saprophytic, or pathogenic in plants or animals.

[New Latin bactērium, from Greek baktērion, diminutive of baktron, rod; see bak- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bacteria

1847, from Mod.L. pl. of bacterium, from Gk. bakterion "small staff," dim. of baktron "stick, rod," from PIE *bak- "staff used for support." So called because the first ones observed were rod-shaped. Introduced as a scientific word 1838 by Ger. naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795-1876).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

bacteria
noun
(microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered to be plants

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bacteria [bakˈtiəriə] noun plural — singular bacˈterium [-əm]

organisms not able to be seen except under a microscope, found in rotting matter, in air, in soil and in living bodies, some being the germs of disease
Example: a throat infection caused by bacteria

Arabic:	بَكْتيريا، جَراثيم
Chinese (Simplified):	细菌
Chinese (Traditional):	細菌
Czech:	bakterie
Danish:	bakterier
Dutch:	bacteria an
Estonian:	bakterid
Finnish:	bakteeri(t)
French:	bactérie(s)
German:	die Bakterien
Greek:	βακτηρίδια
Hungarian:	baktérium(ok)
Icelandic:	gerlar, bakteríur
Indonesian:	bakteri
Italian:	batteri*

Japanese:	細菌
Latvian:	baktērija
Lithuanian:	bakterija
Norwegian:	bakterie
Polish:	bakterie
Portuguese (Brazil):	bactéria
Portuguese (Portugal):	bactéria
Romanian:	bacterii
Russian:	бактерии
Slovak:	baktérie
Slovenian:	bakterije
Spanish:	bacteria
Swedish:	bakterier
Turkish:	bakteriler

See also: bacteriology

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bacteria Audio Help (bāk-tîr'ē-ə) Pronunciation Key
Plural of bacterium.

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bacterium Audio Help (bāk-tîr'ē-əm) Pronunciation Key
Plural bacteria
Any of a large group of one-celled organisms that lack a cell nucleus, reproduce by fission or by forming spores, and in some cases cause disease. They are the most abundant lifeforms on Earth, and are found in all living things and in all of the Earth's environments. Bacteria usually live off other organisms. Bacteria make up most of the kingdom of prokaryotes (Monera or Prokaryota), with one group (the archaea or archaebacteria) often classified as a separate kingdom. See also archaeon , prokaryote.

bacterial adjective

Our Living Language : It is important to remember that bacteria is the plural of bacterium, and that saying a bacteria is incorrect. It is correct to say The soil sample contains millions of bacteria, and Tetanus is caused by a bacterium.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
bacteria

sing. bacterium

Microorganisms made up of a single cell that has no distinct nucleus. Bacteria reproduce by fission or by forming spores.

Note: Some bacteria are beneficial to humans (for example, those that live in the stomach and aid digestion), and some are harmful (for example, those that cause disease).

[Chapter:] Life Sciences

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bacteria

Bac*te"ri*a\, n.p. See Bacterium.

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