microbe

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A tiny living thing too small to see without a microscope, such as a bacterium that can cause disease.

   Washing your hands helps remove harmful microbes.

Simplified etymology

Microbe was coined in French by Charles-Emmanuel Sédillot in March 1878 from Greek mikros, “small,” and bios, “life.”

From French microbe, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and βίος (bíos, “life”). By surface analysis, micro- + -obe.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary