Main Entry: bac·te·ria

Pronunciation: \bak-ˈtir-ē-ə\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural bacteria also bac·te·ri·as

Etymology: plural of bacterium

Date: 1881

: bacterium —not usually used technically

usage Bacteria is regularly a plural in scientific and pedagogical use; in speech and in journalism it is also used as a singular, and it is sometimes pluralized as bacterias <caused by a bacteria borne by certain tiny ticks — Wall Street Journal> <more resistant to chlorine and elevated water temperatures than other bacterias — Allan Bruckheim, M.D., Chicago Tribune>. These journalistic uses are found in British as well as American sources.