Etymology

bacterize

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Today it means: To treat with bacteria. Full definition →

English bacteria ← New Latin bactēria ← Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  2. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  3. New Latinbactēria
  4. Englishbacteria
  5. English todaybacterize

From bacteria + -ize.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.