bacteriumとは意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From New Latin bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “small staff”), from βακτηρία (baktēría).

発音

• IPA^(key): /bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/

名詞

bacterium (plural bacteria or (まれに, possibly 一般的ではない用法) bacteriums)

1. (microbiology) A single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.
   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     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.

使用する際の注意点

• In most formal writing, bacterium is the singular form of the noun, and bacteria the plural form. This is in accord with the word's Latin etymology. However, in ordinary speech, some speakers use bacteria as a singular, with plural either bacteria or bacterias. This is usually considered nonstandard.

上位語

• prokaryote

下位語

• See also Thesaurus:bacterium

派生語

Further reading

• bacterium on Wikipedia.

参考

• bacillus

Latin