bacillus means any of various rod-shaped, spore-forming aerobic bacteria in the genus Bacillus, some of which cause disease. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 74 out of 100.
bacillus is pronounced /bæˈsɪl.əs/.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin bacillus (“little staff, wand”), diminutive of baculum (“stick, staff, walking stick”).
noun
- Any of various rod-shaped, spore-forming aerobic bacteria in the genus Bacillus, some of which cause disease.“'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the microscope, 'is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera - the cholera germ.'”
- Any bacilliform (rod-shaped) bacterium.
- Something which spreads like bacterial infection.“The “bacillus of boom or depression,” he wrote, travels freely “from country to country.””