noun
Etymology: colon (I)
: any of a number of bacilli especially of the genera Escherichia and Aerobacter normally commensal in vertebrate intestines or living in soil and only occasionally of pathogenic significance although one species ( E. coli ) may be implicated in urinary tract and biliary infections and in a variety of suppurative lesions especially in the tropics and another ( A. aerogenes ) has been reported as a cause of cystitis