Meanings
nounbacterium (plural bacteria or (uncommon, possibly nonstandard) bacteriums)
plural bacteria · nonstandard plural possibly uncommon bacteriums
- biologyA single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.
Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2020
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered to be plants
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekβακτηρία (baktēría)
- Ancient Greekβακτήριον (baktḗrion)
- New Latinbactērium
- Englishbacterium
From New Latin bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “small staff”), from βακτηρία (baktēría).
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans bakterie
- bakteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Arabic جُرْثُومَة
- جُرْثُومَة (jurṯūma)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Bengali ব্যাক্টেরিয়া
- ব্যাক্টেরিয়া (bêkṭeriẏa)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Bulgarian бакте́рия
- бакте́рия (baktérija)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Catalan bacteri
- bacterisingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Chinese Cantonese 細菌 /细菌
- 細菌 /细菌 (sai³ kwan²)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Chinese Mandarin 細菌 /细菌
- 細菌 /细菌 (xìjūn)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Czech bakterie
- bakteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Danish bakterie
- bakteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Dutch bacterie
- bacteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Esperanto bakterio
- bakteriosingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Estonian bakter
- baktersingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Finnish bakteeri
- bakteerisingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
French bactérie
- bactériesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
German Bakterium, Bakterie
- Bakteriumsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- Bakteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Greek βακτήριο
- βακτήριο (vaktírio)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Hebrew חַיְדַּק \ חידק
- חַיְדַּק \ חידק (khaydák)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Hindi जीवाणु, कीटाणु
- जीवाणु (jīvāṇu)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- कीटाणु (kīṭāṇu)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Hungarian baktérium
- baktériumsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Icelandic baktería, gerill
- bakteríasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- gerillsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Indonesian bakteri, kuman
- bakterisingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- kumansingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Irish baictéar
- baictéarsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Italian batterio
- batteriosingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Japanese 細菌, バクテリア
- 細菌 (saikin)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- バクテリア (bakuteria)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Korean 세균, 박테리아
- 세균 (segyun)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- 박테리아 (bakteria)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Latin bactērium
- bactēriumsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Latvian baktērija
- baktērijasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Lithuanian bakterija
- bakterijasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Malay bakteria, kuman
- bakteriasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- kumansingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Māori huakita
- huakitasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Norwegian Bokmål bakterie
- bakteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Polish bakteria
- bakteriasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Portuguese bactéria
- bactériasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Romanian bacterie
- bacteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Russian бакте́рия
- бакте́рия (baktɛ́rija)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Slovak baktéria
- baktériasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Spanish bacteria
- bacteriasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Swahili bakteria
- bakteriasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Swedish bakterie
- bakteriesingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Tagalog ishay, bakterya
- ishaysingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- bakteryasingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Tamil நுண்மம், நுண்ணுயிரி
- நுண்மம் (nuṇmam)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- நுண்ணுயிரி (nuṇṇuyiri)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Thai แบคทีเรีย, บัคเตรี
- แบคทีเรีย (bɛ̀k-tii-riia)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- บัคเตรี (bàk-dtee-rii)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- บักเตรี (bàk-dtee-rii)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- เชื้อโรค (chʉ́ʉa-rôok)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Turkish bakteri
- bakterisingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Ukrainian бакте́рія
- бакте́рія (baktérija)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Urdu بَیکْٹِیرِیا, جَرْثُومَہ
- بَیکْٹِیرِیا (baikṭīriyā)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- جَرْثُومَہ (jarsūma)single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Vietnamese vi khuẩn, vi trùng
- vi khuẩnsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
- vi trùngsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Welsh bacteriwm
- bacteriwmsingle-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bacterium
Miriammycobacteriumdeliriumimperiumdeuteriumcriteriumcorynebacteriumceriummagisteriumpuerperiumcyanobacteriumapteriumarchaebacteriumcollyriumelateriumenterobacteriumferroceriummeitneriumosmeteriumpsalterium
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
bacterium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bacterium
MLA
“bacterium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bacterium. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bacterium,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bacterium.
Source: bacterium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.