Where does “bacterial” come from?

Bacterial is the adjective form of bacterium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον, derived from βάκτρον meaning rod or staff, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bak-.

bacterial (English): Of, relating to, or caused by bacteria

Definitions

  1. Of, relating to, or caused by bacteria

Ancestry of “bacterial”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-álOf or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also
2EnglishaldehydeAny of a large class of reactive organic...
3GermanAldehydaldehyde
4Latinalcoholkohl, collyrium, stibium; any other powder...
5Andalusian Arabicكُحُول
6Arabicكحلantimony; kohl, stibnite; black coloring of the...
7Arabicكُحْلantimony; kohl, stibnite
8Akkadianguḫlumkohl, antimony paste

Words derived from “bacterial

Every word from Akkadian guḫlumEvery word from English -álEvery word from Arabic كُحْل