bacterium
/bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/noun
bacterium is spelled B-A-C-T-E-R-I-U-M: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bacteria vs bacterium” about 1,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, bacterium means “A single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bacterium is bacteria; Wiktionary also lists bacteriums (nonstandard).
How many letters and syllables are in bacterium?
| Letters | 9: B-A-C-T-E-R-I-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is bacterium?
Bacterium appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bacterium?
- /bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/
Bacterium has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bacterium.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bacterium
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: bacteria.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of bacterium
- bacteria plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bacterium mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bacterium in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense single-celled organism with no nucleus or organelles:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bacterium come from?
From New Latin bactērium, from Ancient Greek βακτήριον (baktḗrion, “small staff”), from βακτηρία (baktēría).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).