Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “antibacterial” come from?

Antibacterial comes from English bacterial, from English bacteria, from English bacterium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον, from Ancient Greek βάκτρον meaning rod or staff, from Proto-Indo-European bak-.

antibacterial (English): Killing or inhibiting bacteria; Opposing the...

Definitions

  1. Killing or inhibiting bacteria; Opposing the...

Ancestry of “antibacterial”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbacterialOf, relating to, or caused by bacteria
2English-ál—
3EnglishaldehydeAny of a large class of reactive organic...
4GermanAldehydaldehyde
5Latinalcoholkohl, collyrium, stibium; any other powder...
6Andalusian Arabicكُحُول—
7Arabicكحلantimony; kohl, stibnite; black coloring of the...
8Arabicكُحْلantimony; kohl, stibnite
9Akkadianguḫlum—

Words derived from “antibacterial”

  • nonantibacterial
  • antibacterially
Every word from Akkadian guḫlum →