Abacterial

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˌeɪ.bækˈtɪəɹ.i.əl/

Definitions

1. Characterizing a state or organism that lacks any bacterial presence or influence
2. Denoting a non-infectious condition devoid of bacteria and their effects
3. Describing an environment or condition without any bacteria present

Etymology: Abacterial is a plain modern formation: the Greek-derived prefix "a-" meaning "without" attached to "bacterial." The prefix is ancient, traceable through Ancient Greek back to a much older root, but the word it attaches to is a recent coinage. "Bacterial" itself descends from the New Latin "bacteria," which was built on the Ancient Greek "baktēria," meaning "little staff" or "walking stick," from "baktron," a stick. Microscopists in the 1800s gave the name to the rod-shaped organisms they saw under their lenses, so the ancient word for a cane became the name for microbes. Because the bacteria were named long after classical Greece, "abacterial" does not come from any ancient vocabulary. It was assembled in English from parts that already existed, which is why it reads so transparently: a stick-shaped microbe, and then the negating prefix that removes it.

Synonyms: non-bacterial, aseptic