BACILLUS


Meaning of BACILLUS in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ bə-ˈsi-ləs ]

noun

( plural ba·cil·li -ˌlī also -lē)

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

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.