Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Strep pyo

Strep pyo

7.3
A short informal name for a germ that often causes sore throats and skin infections
  • noun
  • /strɛp ˈpaɪoʊ/
  • Jargon
translation icon : Strep pyo
  • The doctor suspected that Strep pyo was responsible for the patient's sore throat.

Examples

  • Medical staff are trained to recognize symptoms caused by Strep pyo in children.

  • Symptoms of a Strep pyo infection can include fever and a red rash.

  • After the cut became red and swollen, tests confirmed a Strep pyo infection.

  • The doctor diagnosed her with Strep pyo.

  • Many children suffer from Strep pyo infections.

  • The doctor diagnosed the child with a Strep pyo infection after he complained of a sore throat.

  • Many parents worry about Strep pyo, especially during the school year when infections spread easily.

Surface Forms

Strep pyo singular
Strep pyos plural

Morphology

strep + pyo

The first constituent 'strep' clearly signals a Streptococcus bacterium, but 'pyo' is an unexplained, medical abbreviation/combining form (from pyogenes) that a B1 learner is unlikely to know; the full label refers to a specific species and requires domain knowledge. Because part of the compound is transparent while the abbreviated technical element is not predictable for general learners, the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Strep pyo is a short, informal name doctors use for the germ Streptococcus pyogenes. The part Strep points to how the germ joins in a chain and pyo comes from a word meaning 'pus', because it often makes pus in infections, so the name helps you remember what kind of germ it is.