Biofermentor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A vessel used for cultivating microorganisms to produce desired products through fermentation processes
2. A specialized container that supports the growth and metabolic activity of cells or organisms for biotechnological applications
3. An apparatus designed to optimize conditions for microbial growth and fermentation to generate biological materials or compounds

Etymology: "Biofermentor" is a plain compound: "bio-", the combining form from Greek "bios" meaning "life," joined to "fermentor," a vessel in which microorganisms are grown under controlled conditions. The result names a tank built for culturing microbes, with the "bio-" marking that the contents are living organisms rather than ordinary chemicals. "Fermentor" itself is an English word for the same sort of equipment, from the older verb "ferment," which comes from Latin "fermentum," meaning leaven or yeast, a substance that causes dough to rise. The fermentor was originally the vessel for brewing and fermenting foods, and the sense widened as the technique moved from beer and bread into industrial microbiology. Because the word is a modern technical coinage, it dates from the period when fermentation became a laboratory and industrial science, not from classical antiquity. The Latin and Greek elements supply its parts, but the compound itself was assembled in English for a specific piece of equipment.