microbial

English

Etymology

From microbe +‎ -ial.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹəʊ.bi.əl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹoʊ.bi.əl/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹoʊ.bi.əl/, [mʌɪˈkɹoʊ.bi.əl]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /mɑɪˈkɹəʉ.bi.əl/, /mɑɪˈkɹɐʉ.bi.əl/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /maɪˈkɹɐʉ.bi.əl/

Adjective

microbial (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to, or caused by microbes or microorganisms.
   • 1991, Lynn Margulis, René Fester, Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation:

     The close analogies between DNA-containing eukaryotic cell organelles and microbial symbionts require revision of classic cell theory, wrote Scwemmler and Schenk (1980) on introducing the field of endocytobiology.

   • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.

2. Small; tiny; minuscule.
   • 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 191:

     As I say, one must not blame the Christians too much for all this - partly because, after the communal periods which I have just mentioned, Christianity was evidently deeply influenced by the rise of Commercialism to which during the last two centuries it has so carefully and piously adapted itself; and partly because - if our view is anywhere near right - this microbial injection of self-consciousness was just the necessary work which (in conjunction with commercialism) it had to perform.

Derived terms

• amicrobial
• antimicrobial
• electromicrobial
• endomicrobial
• geomicrobial
• immunomicrobial
• intermicrobial
• microbial clock
• microbial fuel cell
• microbialite
• microbially
• monomicrobial
• multimicrobial
• nonmicrobial
• paucimicrobial
• perimicrobial
• polymicrobial
• promicrobial
• pseudomicrobial
• rhizomicrobial
• sociomicrobial

Translations

relating to microbes

Catalan: microbià Czech: mikrobiální Dutch: microbieel (nl) French: microbien (fr) Galician: microbiano German: mikrobisch Greek: μικροβιακός (el) (mikroviakós) Italian: microbico (it) Portuguese: microbial, micróbico, microbiano Spanish: microbiano Swedish: mikrobiell Turkish: mikrobik (tr), (medical) mikrobic, mikrobiyal

Noun

microbial (plural microbials)

1. A microbe or bacterium.

Anagrams

• mirabolic

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌmi.kɾo.biˈaw/ [ˌmi.kɾo.bɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ˌmi.kɾoˈbjaw/ [ˌmi.kɾoˈbjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌmi.kɾɔˈbjal/ [ˌmi.kɾɔˈβjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌmi.kɾɔˈbjal/ [ˌmi.kɾɔˈβjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌmi.kɾɔˈbja.li/ [ˌmi.kɾɔˈβja.li]

• Hyphenation: mi‧cro‧bi‧al

Adjective

microbial m or f (plural microbiais)

1. microbial (relating to microbes)

   Synonyms: micróbico, microbiano

Further reading

• “microbial”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mikɾoˈbjal/ [mi.kɾoˈβ̞jal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: mi‧cro‧bial

Adjective

microbial m or f (masculine and feminine plural microbiales)

1. microbial