Meningococci

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Gram-negative bacteria of the species Neisseria meningitidis that can cause meningitis and blood infections
2. Spherical microbes that infect the membranes around the brain and spinal cord, causing serious inflammation
3. Disease-causing organisms responsible for bacterial meningitis, typically spread through respiratory droplets

Etymology: Meningococci are the plural of "meningococcus," a bacterium first identified as the cause of cerebrospinal meningitis. The name is built from two parts: "meningo-," from "meninx" (the membrane), and "-coccus," from Greek "kokkos," meaning a berry or grain, which is also the source of the name for spherical bacteria in general. So the name literally describes a berry-shaped germ that infects the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcus is a modern scientific coinage, formed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from classical roots, not a term used by ancient Greek or Roman physicians. The "-coccus" element belongs to a broad family of bacterial names, while the "meningo-" element marks the organism's association with meningitis, a disease that doctors described long before anyone could see its cause under a microscope.