Etymology

rhizobacterium

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Today it means: Any bacterium that has a symbiotic relationship with legumes via its rhizomes Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wréh₂ds
  2. Ancient Greekῥῐ́ζᾰ (rhĭ́ză)
  3. Englishrhizo-
  4. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  5. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  6. New Latinbactērium
  7. Englishbacterium
  8. English todayrhizobacterium

From rhizo- + bacterium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.