microbial
/maɪˈkɹoʊ.bi.əl/adjective, noun
microbial is spelled M-I-C-R-O-B-I-A-L: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, microbial means “Of, relating to, or caused by microbes or microorganisms” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in microbial?
| Letters | 9: M-I-C-R-O-B-I-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is microbial?
Microbial appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th 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 microbial?
- UK /maɪˈkɹəʊ.bi.əl/
- US /maɪˈkɹoʊ.bi.əl/
- US [mʌɪˈkɹoʊ.bi.əl]
Microbial 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-microbial.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with microbial?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as microbial from its last stressed vowel (/oʊbiəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of microbial
- microbials plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does microbial mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of, relating to, or caused by microbes or microorganisms.
- 2
Small; tiny; minuscule.
noun
- 1
A microbe or bacterium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Microbial in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense relating to microbes:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | microbien |
| German | mikrobisch |
| Portuguese | microbial, micróbico, microbiano |
| Spanish | microbiano |
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 microbial come from?
From microbe + -ial.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).