n.
Pronunciation: bak- ' tir- ē - ə
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural bacteria also -ri · as
Etymology: plural of bacterium
Date: 1881
: BACTERIUM ― not usually used technically
usage Bacteria is regularly a plural in scientific and pedagogical use; in speech and in journalism it is also used as a singular, and it is sometimes pluralized as bacterias <caused by a bacteria borne by certain tiny ticks ― Wall Street Jour. > <more resistant to chlorine and elevated water temperatures than other bacteria s ― Allan Bruckheim, M.D., Chicago Tribune >. These journalistic uses are found in British as well as American sources.