microorganism
/ˌmaɪ.kɹoʊˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/noun
microorganism is spelled M-I-C-R-O-O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M: 13 letters and 6 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, microorganism means “An organism that is too small to be seen by the unaided eye; especially, a single-celled organism, such as a bacterium” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of microorganism is microorganisms or microörganisms.
How many letters and syllables are in microorganism?
| Letters | 13: M-I-C-R-O-O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,114th 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 microorganism?
Microorganism appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th 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 microorganism?
- UK /ˌmaɪ.kɹəʊˈɔː.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/
- US /ˌmaɪ.kɹoʊˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.m̩/
Microorganism has 6 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)-I_learned_some_phrases-microorganism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with microorganism
Also written: micro-organism (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of microorganism
- microorganisms plural
- micro-organism
- microörganism
- microörganisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does microorganism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An organism that is too small to be seen by the unaided eye; especially, a single-celled organism, such as a bacterium.
The cud is then reswallowed by the ruminant and further digested by specialized microorganisms that live in the rumen.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of microorganism with a diaresis to indicate that the two O's are separately pronounced
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Microorganism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense an organism too small to be seen by unaided eye:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | microorganisme |
| German | Mikroorganismus |
| Portuguese | micro-organismo, microrganismo |
| Spanish | microorganismo |
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 microorganism come from?
From micro- + organism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).