noun · 2 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.
/bækˌtɪəɹ.ɪˈɒləd͡ʒi/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:B AE2 K T IH0 R IY2 AA1 L AH0 JH IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The scientific study of bacteria, especially in relation to disease and agriculture.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Topics: biology, microbiology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
the branch of medical science that studies bacteria in relation to disease
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: medicine, medical specialty
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Ancient Greek βακτηρία (baktēría) Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Ancient Greek -ῐος (-ĭos)? Ancient Greek -ιον (-ion) Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion)bor. New Latin bactērium Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o-bor. English -o- English bacterio- Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor. Latin -logialbor. French -logiebor. English -logy English bacteriology From bacterio- + -logy.
Across languages
Translations
47 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
bakteriologji
— scientific study of bacteria
Armenian:
մանրէաբանություն
(manrēabanutʻyun)
— scientific study of bacteria
Asturian:
bacterioloxía
— scientific study of bacteria
Belarusian:
бактэрыяло́гія
(bakteryjalóhija)
— scientific study of bacteria
Catalan:
bacteriologia
— scientific study of bacteria
Chinese Mandarin:
細菌學 /细菌学
(xìjùnxué)
— scientific study of bacteria
Czech:
bakteriologie
— scientific study of bacteria
Danish:
bakteriologi
— scientific study of bacteria
Dutch:
bacteriologie
— scientific study of bacteria
Esperanto:
bakteriologio
— scientific study of bacteria
Finnish:
bakteriologia
— scientific study of bacteria
French:
bactériologie
— scientific study of bacteria
Galician:
bacterioloxía
— scientific study of bacteria
Georgian:
ბაქტერიოლოგია
(bakṭeriologia)
— scientific study of bacteria
German:
Bakteriologie
— scientific study of bacteria
German:
Bakterienkunde
— scientific study of bacteria
Greek:
βακτηριολογία
(vaktiriología)
— scientific study of bacteria
Hebrew:
בקטריולוגיה
(bacteriológya)
— scientific study of bacteria
Hungarian:
bakteriológia
— scientific study of bacteria
Indonesian:
bakteriologi
— scientific study of bacteria
Irish:
baictéareolaíocht
— scientific study of bacteria
Italian:
batteriologia
— scientific study of bacteria
Japanese:
細菌学
(saikingaku)
— scientific study of bacteria
Khmer:
អាវេត្រាណូវិទ្យា
(ʔaaveitraanoovityie)
— scientific study of bacteria
Northern Kurdish:
bakterîzanî
— scientific study of bacteria
Northern Kurdish:
bakterîlojî
— scientific study of bacteria
Latin:
bactēriologia
— scientific study of bacteria
Latvian:
bakterioloģija
— scientific study of bacteria
Lithuanian:
bakteriològija
— scientific study of bacteria
Malay:
bakteriologi
— scientific study of bacteria
Malay:
kaji kuman
— scientific study of bacteria
Norwegian Bokmål:
bakteriologi
— scientific study of bacteria
Norwegian Nynorsk:
bakteriologi
— scientific study of bacteria
Persian:
باکتریولوژی
(bâkteriyoloži)
— scientific study of bacteria
Persian:
باکتریشناسی
(bākterīšenāsī)
— scientific study of bacteria
Polish:
bakteriologia
— scientific study of bacteria
Portuguese:
bacteriologia
— scientific study of bacteria
Romanian:
bacteriologie
— scientific study of bacteria
Russian:
бактериоло́гия
(bakteriológija)
— scientific study of bacteria
Serbo-Croatian:
bakteriologija
— scientific study of bacteria
Slovak:
bakteriológia
— scientific study of bacteria
Spanish:
bacteriología
— scientific study of bacteria
Swedish:
bakteriologi
— scientific study of bacteria
Turkish:
bakteriyoloji
— scientific study of bacteria
Ukrainian:
бактеріоло́гія
(bakteriolóhija)
— scientific study of bacteria
Yiddish:
באַקטעריאָלאָגיע
(bakteryologye)
— scientific study of bacteria
Zazaki:
bakteriyoloci
— scientific study of bacteria