mycobacterium

noun

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

The verdict

“mycobacterium” is uncommon English (frequency #53,721 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,721
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of many rod-shaped, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Mycobacterium, that cause diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mycobacterium · mycobacterium · English

mycobacterium · rank #53,721 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,721
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mythologies

Nearest frequency peer: mythologies (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “mycobacterium”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “mycobacterium” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mycobacterium
PropertyValue
Headwordmycobacterium
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Frequency rank#53,721
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “mycobacterium” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mycobacteriumfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “mythologies” (#53,722), “Muammar” (#53,718), “Nebuchadnezzar” (#53,724). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mycobacterium” is #53,721. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mycobacterium is uncommon English at frequency #53,721 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of many rod-shaped, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Mycobacterium, that cause diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.".

No misspelling variants are generated for mycobacterium in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. 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 myco- + bacterium. The correct English form is mycobacterium, spelled M-Y-C-O-B-A-C-T-E-R-I-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of many rod-shaped, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Mycobacterium, that cause diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.

Etymology

From myco- + bacterium.

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 "mycobacterium"?
"mycobacterium" is spelled M-Y-C-O-B-A-C-T-E-R-I-U-M.
What does "mycobacterium" mean?
As a noun, "mycobacterium" means: Any of many rod-shaped, aerobic bacteria, of the genus Mycobacterium, that cause diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.
What is the origin of the word "mycobacterium"?
From myco- + bacterium. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mycobacterium", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list