Streptobacilli

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Rod-shaped bacteria that grow in chains, many of which cause infections in humans and animals when they enter the body
2. Bacterial organisms arranged in linked strings of rod-like cells, including species responsible for various diseases
3. Chain-forming rod-shaped microbes, a genus of bacteria with members that can cause serious illness in people and livestock

Etymology: Streptobacilli are rod-shaped bacteria that grow in chains, and the name is built from two Greek-derived parts. The first, "strepto-", comes from the Greek "streptos", meaning twisted or bent, and it is the same element that appears in "streptococcus", the name for another chain-forming bacterium. The second part, "bacillus", is Latin for a small rod, a diminutive of "baculus" meaning stick or staff. Put together, the term describes bacteria that look like little rods strung in a twisted or linked line. The word is a plural, so it is the form used when referring to more than one streptobacillus. The singular, "streptobacillus", names a single organism of this kind, and the plural is what you would see in a sentence about several types or many cells together.