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bacterium noun

Click to hear the UK pronunciation of this wordClick to hear the US pronunciation of this word/bækˈtɪə.ri.əm//-ˈtɪr.i-/ n [C usually plural] (plural bacteria)

Definition

a type of very small organism that lives in air, earth, water, plants and animals, often one which causes a disease
an illness caused by bacteria in drinking water
The bacterium `Streptococcus pneumoniae' causes about a third of some 3000 annual meningitis cases.

(Definition of bacterium noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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