bacillus

[ buh-sil-uhs ]

noun

, plural ba·cil·li [b, uh, -, sil, -ahy].

1. any rod-shaped or cylindrical bacterium of the genus Bacillus, comprising spore-producing bacteria.
2. (formerly) any bacterium.

bacillus

/ bəˈsɪləs /

noun

1. any rod-shaped bacterium, such as a clostridium bacterium Compare coccus spirillum
2. any of various rodlike spore-producing bacteria constituting the family Bacillaceae , esp of the genus Bacillus

bacillus

/ bə-sĭl′əs /

, Plural bacilli bə-sĭl′ī′

1. Any of various pathogenic bacteria, especially one that is rod-shaped.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bacillus¹

1880–85; < Late Latin, variant of Latin bacillum (diminutive of baculum ) staff, walking stick

Word History and Origins

Origin of bacillus¹

C19: from Latin: a small staff, from baculum walking stick

Example Sentences

However, if the bacilli become active—when someone’s immune system is compromised, as with AIDS—they multiply rapidly into a bone-eating, lung-consuming illness that, unless treated, is fatal.

From Literature

Swabs from the skin, nose and mouth, as well as saliva and stool samples, showed that 34 percent of all participants had antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as resistant Gram-negative bacilli or vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

From Scientific American

Scientists postulate that the bacillus originated in some lower animal and jumped to humans.

From Washington Post

But tuberculosis is also curable and preventable, caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and spread when people who are sick expel bacteria into the air, usually by coughing.

From Washington Post

Koch complied with a vial swarming with cholera bacilli.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• ailment
• disease
• germ
• illness
• infection
• microbe
• microorganism
• pathogen
• sickness