Standard Lemma guide

abacterial

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˌeɪ.bækˈtɪəɹ.i.əl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not caused by bacteria; characterized by a lack of bacteria.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • an abacterial prostatitis model for studying immune cells

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-)der. English a- Ancient Greek βακτηρία (baktēría) Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Ancient Greek -ῐος (-ĭos)? Ancient Greek -ιον (-ion) Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion)bor. New Latin bactēriabor. English bacteria English -al English bacterial English abacterial From a- (“without”) + bacterial.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: abacterieel — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria
  • Esperanto: senbakteria — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria
  • Finnish: abakteriaalinen — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria
  • Portuguese: abacteriano — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria
  • Romanian: abacterian — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria
  • Swedish: icke-bakteriell — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria
  • Welsh: anfacterol — not caused by bacteria, characterized by lack of bacteria