bacteria
UK/bakˈtɪə̯.ri.ə//bækˈtɪɹ.i.ə/
bacteria is the plural of bacterium.
bacteria is the alternative form of bacterium.
Noun (1)
bacteria (plural bacterias)
- A type, species, or strain of bacterium.
- Anaerobic bacteria function in the absence of oxygen, where as aerobic bacteria require sunlight and also oxygen. Both these bacterias are capable of breaking down the organic matter […]2002, A.C. Panchdhari, Water Supply and Sanitary Installations, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 177
- Lowlife, slob (could be treated as plural or singular).
Meaning of bacterium
Noun
bacterium (plural bacteria or (uncommon, possibly nonstandard) bacteriums)
- A 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
Noun (2)
bacteria (plural bacteriae)
Forms of bacteria
| plural | bacterias |
|---|---|
| plural | bacteriae |
Origin of bacteria
Borrowed from New Latin bacteria, plural of bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “little rod”); by surface analysis, bacteri(um) + -a.
From New Latin bactēria, from Ancient Greek βακτηρίᾱ (baktēríā, “rod, stick”).
Words formed from bacteria
Phrases with bacteria
Words that rhyme with bacteria
- hysteria
- Iberia
- criteria
- washeteria
- apteria
- archaebacteria
- arteria
- asteria
- ceria
- corynebacteria
- cryptomeria
- cyanobacteria
16 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about bacteria
- What does bacteria mean?
- Bacteria means a type, species, or strain of bacterium.
- What is bacteria the plural of?
- Bacteria is the plural of bacterium.
- What part of speech is bacteria?
- Bacteria is a noun.
- How do you pronounce bacteria?
- Bacteria is pronounced /bakˈtɪə̯.ri.ə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of bacteria?
- The plural of bacteria is bacterias.
Words near bacteria in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bacteria (page history and authors); bacterium (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bacteria.ogg.
Cite this entry: “bacteria.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bacteria. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.