Etymology

heliobacterium

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Today it means: Any of the Heliobacteriaceae, a family of photoheterotrophic bacteria, using bacteriochlorophyll to convert light energy into chemical energy, exclusively in anaerobic conditions Full definition →

English bacterium ← New Latin bactērium ← Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sóh₂wl̥
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sh₂wél(i)yos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hāwélios
  4. Ancient Greekἥλῐος (hḗlĭos)
  5. Englishhelio-
  6. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  7. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  8. New Latinbactērium
  9. Englishbacterium
  10. English todayheliobacterium

From helio- + bacterium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.