lactobacillus

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"lactobacillus" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lactobacillus” is uncommon English (frequency #60,921 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,921
frequency rank, English
16,425
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of many rod-shaped, nonmotile, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Lactobacillus, that ferment sugars to form lactic acid

Key facts for lactobacillus
PropertyValue
Headwordlactobacillus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Frequency rank#60,921
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lactobacillus” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). lactobacillus lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lactobacillus is uncommon English at frequency #60,921 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of many rod-shaped, nonmotile, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Lactobacillus, that ferment sugars to form lactic acid".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for lactobacillus, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the genus name. lacto- + bacillus The correct English form is lactobacillus, spelled L-A-C-T-O-B-A-C-I-L-L-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of many rod-shaped, nonmotile, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Lactobacillus, that ferment sugars to form lactic acid

Etymology

From the genus name. lacto- + bacillus

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lactobacillus"?
"lactobacillus" is spelled L-A-C-T-O-B-A-C-I-L-L-U-S.
What does "lactobacillus" mean?
As a noun, "lactobacillus" means: Any of many rod-shaped, nonmotile, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Lactobacillus, that ferment sugars to form lactic acid
What is the origin of the word "lactobacillus"?
From the genus name. lacto- + bacillus See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “lactobacillus”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-A-C-T-O-B-A-C-I-L-L-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list