microbe

English

Etymology

From French microbe, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, small) and βίος (bíos, life). By surface analysis, micro- +‎ -obe.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹəʊb/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/
    • Audio (California):(file)
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/, [ˈmʌɪkɹoʊb]
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈmɑɪkɹəʉb/, /ˈmɑɪkɹɐʉb/
  • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹɐʉb/

Noun

microbe (plural microbes)

  1. (microbiology) Any microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium.
    • 2015 March 13, Ben Brumfield, “You may be your germs: Microbe genes slipped into human DNA, study says”, in CNN[1]:
      We humans and other complex animals are full of microbes, gajillions of them. People have so many that microbe cells living in our bodies outnumber our own vastly.
    • 2019 October 7, Sandee LaMotte, “The germiest place in your home and the best way to combat those microbes”, in CNN[2]:
      Yes, there are microbes everywhere and most are just fine for us, perhaps even beneficial to our microbiomes and immune systems. We don’t care about those.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Welsh: microb

Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French microbe, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, small) and βίος (bíos, life).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌmiˈkroː.bə/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: mi‧cro‧be

Noun

microbe f (plural microben or microbes, diminutive microbetje n)

  1. (microbiology) microbe

Derived terms

French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, small) and βίος (bíos, life).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mi.kʁɔb/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

microbe m (plural microbes)

  1. (microbiology) microbe

Descendants

Further reading