bacterial

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British, UK, Southern, Standard/bækˈtɪəɹiəl/British, UK, Southern, Standard[bækˈtɪəɹiəɫ]Canada, US/bækˈtɪɹ.i.əl/Canada, US[bækˈtɪɹ.i.əɫ]

adjective

Of, relating to, or caused by bacteria.

OriginProto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← English bacteria ← New Latin bactēria →
CommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

adjectivebacterial (not comparable)
  1. not comparablebiologyOf, relating to, or caused by bacteria.

    [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].

    2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2023

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
prokaryotic

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
  2. Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
  3. New Latinbactēria
  4. Englishbacteria
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Englishbacterial

From bacteria + -al.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans bakterieel
  • bakterieelof or caused by bacteria
Bulgarian бактериален
  • бактериален (bakterialen)of or caused by bacteria
Catalan bacterià, bacterial
  • bacteriàof or caused by bacteria
  • bacterialof or caused by bacteria
Chinese Mandarin 微生物的
  • 微生物的 (Wéishēngwù de)of or caused by bacteria
Czech bakteriální
  • bakteriálníof or caused by bacteria
Danish bakteriel
  • bakterielof or caused by bacteria
Dutch bacterieel
  • bacterieelof or caused by bacteria
Esperanto bakteria
  • bakteriaof or caused by bacteria
Finnish bakteeri-, bakteriaalinen
  • bakteeri-of or caused by bacteria
  • bakteriaalinenof or caused by bacteria
  • bakteeriperäinenof or caused by bacteria
French bactérien
  • bactérienof or caused by bacteria
German bakteriell
  • bakteriellof or caused by bacteria
Hindi जीवाण्विक
  • जीवाण्विक (jīvāṇvik)of or caused by bacteria
Hungarian bakteriális
  • bakteriálisof or caused by bacteria
Irish baictéarach
  • baictéarachof or caused by bacteria
Italian batterico
  • battericoof or caused by bacteria
Norwegian Bokmål bakteriell
  • bakteriellof or caused by bacteria
Polish bakteryjny
  • bakteryjnyof or caused by bacteria
Russian бактериа́льный
  • бактериа́льный (bakteriálʹnyj)of or caused by bacteria
Spanish bacteriano, bacterial
  • bacterianoof or caused by bacteria
  • bacterialof or caused by bacteria
Swedish bakteriell
  • bakteriellof or caused by bacteria
Ukrainian бактеріа́льний
  • бактеріа́льний (bakteriálʹnyj)of or caused by bacteria

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

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Cite this entry
APA

bacterial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bacterial

MLA

“bacterial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bacterial. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bacterial,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bacterial.

Source: bacterial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.