n.
Pronunciation: b ə - ' si-l ə s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -li \ - ˌ l ī also -l ē \
Etymology: New Latin, from Medieval Latin, small staff, rod, diminutive of Latin baculus staff, alteration of baculum
Date: circa 1879
1 : any of a genus ( Bacillus ) of rod-shaped gram-positive usually aerobic bacteria producing endospores and including many saprophytes and some parasites (as B. anthracis of anthrax) broadly : a straight rod-shaped bacterium
2 : BACTERIUM especially : a disease-producing bacterium