# cryptosporidium

Pronunciation: say "krip-toh-spuh-RID-ee-um" US /ˌkɹɪptoʊspəˈɹɪdiəm/, UK /ˌkɹɪptəʊspəˈɹɪdiəm/

## Noun

1. A single-celled parasite that lives in the intestines of humans and other animals and can cause diarrhea, especially in people with weak immunity.
   - Simple: A tiny germ that lives in the gut and can cause stomach illness, mainly in people with weak immune systems.
   - _Tests confirmed that cryptosporidium had contaminated the public swimming pool._
   - _In patients with HIV, cryptosporidium can cause persistent and dangerous diarrhea._

## Origin

A 20th-century translingual coinage from the genus name Cryptosporidium, formed from Latin crypto- ("hidden") plus sporidium ("spore").

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