Meanings
plural microorganisms · alternative micro-organism · alternative microörganism
- biologyAn organism that is too small to be seen by the unaided eye; especially, a single-celled organism, such as a bacterium.
The cud is then reswallowed by the ruminant and further digested by specialized microorganisms that live in the rumen.
2 more examples
Bacillus anthracis: from the first up to the sixth day, this microorganism was isolatable, or in other words still alive.
1957, Communicationes Veterinariae - Volumes 1-3, page 52The differences in biofilm penetration patterns of both tested photosensitisers and the light source could have played an important role for the survival of microorganisms after the application of aPDT. In a recent own study, we showed that the deepest layers of the oral biofilm were not affected by the aPDT [4 ].
2015 November 7, “Antimicrobial Photoinactivation Using Visible Light Plus Water-Filtered Infrared-A (VIS + wIRA) Alters In Situ Oral Biofilms”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn organism that is too small to be seen by the unaided eye; especially, a single-celled organism, such as a bacterium.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*mey-der.?
- Ancient Greekμῑκρός (mīkrós)
- Ancient Greekμῑκρο- (mīkro-)
- Englishmicro-
- Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
- Ancient Greekὄργανον (órganon)
- Latinorganum
- Old Frenchorgane
- Middle Englishorgane
- Englishorgan
- Englishorganism
- Englishmicroorganism
Translations
Arabic مِيكْرُوب
- مِيكْرُوب (mikrūb)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Bulgarian микрооргани́зъм
- микрооргани́зъм (mikroorganízăm)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Catalan microorganisme
- microorganismean organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Chinese Mandarin 微生物
- 微生物 (wéishēngwù)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Czech mikroorganismus
- mikroorganismusan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Danish mikroorganisme
- mikroorganismean organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Dutch micro-organisme
- micro-organismean organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Esperanto mikroorganismo
- mikroorganismoan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Estonian mikroorganism
- mikroorganisman organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Finnish mikro-organismi
- mikro-organismian organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
French microorganisme
- microorganismean organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
German Mikroorganismus
- Mikroorganismusan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Greek μικροοργανισμός
- μικροοργανισμός (mikroorganismós)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Hebrew מיקרואורגניזם
- מיקרואורגניזם (mikro'organízm)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Hindi सूक्ष्मजीव
- सूक्ष्मजीव (sūkṣmajīv)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Hungarian mikroorganizmus
- mikroorganizmusan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Icelandic örvera
- örveraan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Indonesian mikroorganisme
- mikroorganismean organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Italian microrganismo
- microrganismoan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Japanese 微生物
- 微生物 (biseibutsu)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Korean 미생물
- 미생물 (misaengmul)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Latvian mikroorganisms
- mikroorganismsan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Malay mikroorganisma
- mikroorganismaan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Māori moroiti
- moroitian organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Persian میکروارگانیسم
- میکروارگانیسم (mikro-orgânism)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Polish mikroorganizm
- mikroorganizman organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Portuguese micro-organismo, microrganismo
- micro-organismoan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
- microrganismoan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Romanian microorganism
- microorganisman organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Russian микрооргани́зм
- микрооргани́зм (mikroorganízm)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Spanish microorganismo
- microorganismoan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Swedish mikroorganism
- mikroorganisman organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Tagalog miktataghay
- miktataghayan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Tamil நுண்ணுயிர்
- நுண்ணுயிர் (nuṇṇuyir)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Thai จุลชีพ, จุลินทรีย์
- จุลชีพ (jun-lá-chêep)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
- จุลินทรีย์ (jù-lin-sii)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Turkish mikroorganizma
- mikroorganizmaan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Ukrainian мікрооргані́зм
- мікрооргані́зм (mikroorhanízm)an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Vietnamese vi trùng, vi khuẩn
- vi trùngan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
- vi khuẩnan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
- vi sinh vậtan organism too small to be seen by unaided eye
Cite this entry
microorganism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microorganism
“microorganism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microorganism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “microorganism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microorganism.
Source: microorganism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.