Dictionary

microbe en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˈmʌɪkɹoʊb] (Canada)
• (California) audio
• /ˈmɑɪkɹəʉb/ (Australia)
• /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/ (Canada)
• /ˈmaɪkɹəʊb/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmaɪkɹɐʉb/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/ (General-American)
• /ˈmɑɪkɹɐʉb/ (Australia)

Etymology

Borrowed from French microbe, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and βίος (bíos, “life”). By surface analysis, micro- + -obe.

Meanings

1. Any microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium.
   • Yes, there are microbes everywhere and most are just fine for us, perhaps even beneficial to our microbiomes and immune systems. We don’t care about those. 2019 October 7, Sandee LaMotte, “The germiest place in your home and the best way to combat those microbes”, in CNN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2023:
   • We humans and other complex animals are full of microbes, gajillions of them. People have so many that microbe cells living in our bodies outnumber our own vastly. 2015 March 13, Ben Brumfield, “You may be your germs: Microbe genes slipped into human DNA, study says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2018:

Forms

Deriveds

microbial · nanobe · microbiosis · mimivirus · microbivorous · supermicrobe · microbicide · microbivore · microbic · microbism · antimicrobe · microbian · pseudomicrobe · microbeless · radiobe

Descendants

microb

Relateds

microorganism

Translations (91)

ru микро́б (microorganism) · pt micróbio (microorganism) · ckb میکرۆب (microorganism) · my ပိုး (microorganism) · ga miocrób (microorganism) · km អតិសុខុមប្រាណ (microorganism) · ug مىكروپ (microorganism) · sv mikrob (microorganism) · as অণুজীৱ (microorganism) · th จุลินทรีย์ (microorganism) · fi mikrobi (microorganism) · el μικροοργανισμός (microorganism) · sl mikrob (microorganism) · fa میکروب (microorganism) · gl microbio (microorganism) · pl mikroorganizm (microorganism) · it microbo (microorganism) · es microbio (microorganism) · as জীৱাণু (microorganism) · km ក្រមី (microorganism) · da mikrobe (microorganism) · lv mikrobs (microorganism) · tg микроб (microorganism) · az mikrob (microorganism) · ky микроб (microorganism) · cmn 微生物 (microorganism) · de Mikrobe (microorganism) · it microbio (microorganism) · lt mikrobas (microorganism) · mn нян (microorganism) · bg микро́б (microorganism) · sh mìkrōb (microorganism) · sk mikrób (microorganism) · nl microbe (microorganism) · hy միկրոբ (microorganism) · sh мѝкро̄б (microorganism) · km មីក្រុប (microorganism) · km ជីវាណូ (microorganism) · mk микроб (microorganism) · id mikrob (microorganism) · kk микроб (microorganism) · th จุลชีพ (microorganism) · ia microbio (microorganism) · is örvera (microorganism) · uk мікро́б (microorganism) · lo ຈຸນລະຊີບ (microorganism) · fr microbe (microorganism) · lo ຈຸລິນສີ (microorganism) · io mikrobo (microorganism) · vi vi trùng (microorganism) · nb mikrobe (microorganism) · tk mikrob (microorganism) · hy մանրէ (microorganism) · kmr mîkrob (microorganism) · ro microb (microorganism) · ast microbiu (microorganism) · he חַידַק (microorganism) · pl zarazek (microorganism) · ko 미생물 (microorganism) · hu mikroba (microorganism) · ja 微生物 (microorganism) · pl drobnoustrój (microorganism) · vo mikröb (microorganism) · bn জীবাণু (microorganism) · be мікро́б (microorganism) · et mikroob (microorganism) · mi moroiti (microorganism) · cs mikrob (microorganism) · yi מיקראָב (microorganism) · izh mikroba (microorganism) · ar جُرْثُوم (microorganism) · hi सूक्ष्मजीव (microorganism) · ca microbi (microorganism) · af mikrobe (microorganism) · vi vi sinh vật (microorganism) · ar مِيكْرُوب (microorganism) · uz mikrob (microorganism) · tl mikrobyo (microorganism) · lo ຈຸລິນທີ (microorganism) · eo mikrobo (microorganism) · la microbium (microorganism) · ka მიკრობი (microorganism) · el μικρόβιο (microorganism) · vi vi khuẩn (microorganism) · kmr mikrob (microorganism) · sq mikrob (microorganism) · tr mikrop (microorganism) · pl mikrob (microorganism) · km មេរោគ (microorganism) · km ពីជៈ (microorganism) · ur جَرْثُومَہ (microorganism)