Etymology of the English word microbe
the English word
microbederived from the French word
microbeusing the French prefix
micro-derived from the New Latin prefix
micro-derived from the Greek word
mikros, μικρός (small; small (in size, quantity, number or dignity))
derived from the Greek word
mikros, μικρός (small; small (in size, quantity, number or dignity))
derived from the Late Greek word
bios, βίος (life; life; the present state of existence; by implication, the means of livelihood)
derived from the Proto-Indo-European root
*gʷei- (to live)
Date
The earliest known usage of microbe in English dates from the 19th century.
Derivations in English
aerobe,
saprobe,
microbicideCognates
Dutch
microbe, French
microbe, German
Mikrobe, Norwegian
mikrobe, Swedish
mikrobUsage
Word found in Modern English
