Coined 1878 from Greek 'mikros' (small) + 'bios' (life) — a concise term for the organisms Pasteur proved caused disease.
A microorganism, especially a bacterium causing disease or fermentation. Any organism too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Coined in 1878 by French surgeon Charles Sedillot from Greek mikros (small) and bios (life), to name the microscopic organisms discovered by Pasteur and others. Mikros traces to PIE *smei- (small) via a form *smikros, cognate with Latin mica (crumb, grain) and English smear. Bios (life) comes from PIE *gwei- (to live), the same root as
Before Sédillot coined 'microbe' in 1878, the tiny organisms discovered under microscopes had been called 'animalcules' (little animals — Anton van Leeuwenhoek's term from the 1670s), 'infusoria' (from the infusions in which they were first observed), and various other names. Pasteur himself preferred 'microbe' because it was short, euphonic, and etymologically precise: a small life. The word succeeded partly because it was compact enough
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