Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bacterium

/bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.05 in modern English

Syllables: bac-teri-um
IPA: /bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.

Example Sentences

"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."

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek βακτηρία (baktēría) Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Ancient Greek -ῐος (-ĭos)? Ancient Greek -ιον (-ion) Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion)bor. New Latin bactēriumbor. English bacterium From New Latin bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “small staff”), from βακτηρία (baktēría).

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: bactērium, βακτήριον

Inflected Forms

bacteria (plural) bacteriums (nonstandard, plural)

Derived Forms

agrobacterium archaebacterium archebacterium azotobacterium bacterial bactericidal bactericide bacteriologist bacteriology bacteriumlike bacteroid betaproteobacterium

Phrases

blue-green bacterium green bacterium Hansen’s bacterium iron bacterium mirror bacterium nylon-eating bacterium purple sulfur bacterium sulfur bacterium

Frequently Paired Words

bacillus -coccus

Synonyms

bacterium bacteria

Rhymes With

miriam delirium myriam imperium deuterium mycobacterium magisterium cerium criterium corynebacterium cyanobacterium puerperium

Questions

How do you pronounce bacterium?: The recorded pronunciation is /bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/.
What does bacterium mean?: A single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.
Where does bacterium come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce bacterium

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bacterium”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bacterium”.
Repeat and practice — Say “bacterium” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.