# bacterium

Pronunciation: say "bak-TEER-ee-uhm" /bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/

## Noun

1. A single-celled organism that has a cell wall but lacks a nucleus and other internal compartments.
   - Simple: A very small living thing made of a single cell, with no center part that holds its genes.
   - _Under the microscope, a single bacterium looked like a tiny rod._
   - _Certain gut bacteria help humans digest fiber._

## Origin

From New Latin bactērium, from the Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, "small staff"), derived from βακτηρία (baktēría).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bacterium (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).