Etymology

mycobacterium

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Today it means: Any of many rod-shaped, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Mycobacterium, that cause diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy. Full definition →

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

  1. Ancient Greekμῠ́κης (mŭ́kēs)
  2. Englishmyco-
  3. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  4. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  5. New Latinbactērium
  6. Englishbacterium
  7. English todaymycobacterium

From myco- + bacterium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.