Nocard

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of bacteria that are aerobic, Gram-positive, and partially acid-fast, often found in soil and known for causing nocardiosis in humans and animals
2. Microorganisms belonging to a group characterized by filamentous, branching forms capable of causing infections primarily in the lungs, skin, and brain
3. Soil-dwelling bacteria that can produce chronic infections in immunocompromised hosts, exhibiting features of both bacteria and fungi in their structure and behavior

Etymology: The genus is named after Edmond Nocard, a French veterinarian who studied farcy, a chronic cattle disease that causes swellings under the skin. He traced the infection to a filamentous organism that did not fit neatly among the bacteria known at the time. Later, the genus was named in his honour, so its name commemorates a person rather than any feature of the microbe. The "-ia" ending is the standard Latinised form for genus names, which turns Nocard's surname into a formal scientific label. Its name therefore records who first isolated the organism, not what it does in soil.