Etymology

antibacterial

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Today it means: Killing or inhibiting bacteria. Full definition →

English bacterial ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← New Latin bactēria
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)
  5. Ancient Greekἀντι- (anti-)
  6. Englishanti-
  7. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  8. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  9. New Latinbactēria
  10. Englishbacteria
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  13. Englishbacterial
  14. English todayantibacterial

From anti- + bacterial.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.