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Glite Dictionary
gonococcus

gonococcus

1 9.9
A kind of bacteria that causes gonorrhea, an infection spread by sex that produces pus
  • noun
  • /ˌɡɒnəˈkɒkəs/
  • Specialized
: gonococo
  • Testing for the gonococcus is important for diagnosing gonorrhea.

Examples

  • The laboratory identified the gonococcus as the cause of her infection.

  • Doctors are trained to recognize symptoms of infection caused by the gonococcus.

  • The gonococcus, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, are thin cells; the clinician inserts papillomaviruses, which are a group of them.

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Synonyms

Neisseria gonorrhoeae
vsgonococcus
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A type of bacteria that causes gonorrhea, an infection people get during sex

is the same bacterium but in a general common naming form

How Specific

gonococcus
  • Specialized
1 9.9
bacterium
  • Specialized
1 5.3

Surface Forms

gonococcus singular
gonococci plural

Morphology

gonococcus = coccus (opaque) = gono + coccus + gono

The elements 'gono-' and '-coccus' are technical Greek combining forms used in biomedical terminology and are unlikely to be recognizable or semantically transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The word gonococcus comes from Greek parts gon- meaning 'seed' and -coccus from kokkos meaning 'berry'. It names the tiny round bacteria that cause gonorrhea and produce pus, so the image of 'seed-berries' helps you remember both their round shape and the disease they cause.