microbe
/ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/noun
microbe is spelled M-I-C-R-O-B-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, microbe means “Any microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of microbe is microbes.
How many letters and syllables are in microbe?
| Letters | 7: M-I-C-R-O-B-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is microbe?
Microbe appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd 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 microbe?
- UK /ˈmaɪkɹəʊb/
- US /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/
- Canada /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/
Microbe has 2 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-microbe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of microbe
- microbes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does microbe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Microbe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense microorganism:
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 microbe come from?
Borrowed from French microbe, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and βίος (bíos, “life”). By surface analysis, micro- + -obe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).