Etymology

phosphobacterium

Today it means: Any bacterium that solubilise phosphate (typically in soil) Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  4. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  5. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéreti
  8. Proto-Hellenic*pʰérō
  9. Ancient Greekφέρω (phérō)
  10. Ancient Greekφωσφόρος (phōsphóros)
  11. Latinphōsphorus
  12. Englishphosphorus
  13. Englishphospho-
  14. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  15. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  16. New Latinbactērium
  17. Englishbacterium
  18. English todayphosphobacterium

From phospho- + bacterium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.