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Glite Dictionary
spirochetal

spirochetal

1 9.1
Relating to spiral-shaped bacteria or the infections they cause
  • adjective
  • /ˌspaɪrəˈkiːtəl/
  • Specialized
: espiroquetal
  • The doctor explained that the rash was a symptom of a spirochetal infection.

Examples

  • Treponemae, a type of spirochetal organism, causes syphilis, pinta, and yaws.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Treponema pallidum is a spirochetal bacterium that causes syphilis.

  • Penicillin eventually did become the ultimate cure for this pathogen, but the spirochetal pathogen still exists today with millions of new cases each year (Meyer et al., 2002).

    Academic text (2014)

  • In laboratory studies, scientists observed how spirochetal bacteria respond to antibiotics.

Surface Forms

spirochetal positive

Morphology

spirochetal = spirochete (semi-transparent) = spirochete + al

The adjective is formed regularly from the noun 'spirochete', but the term is specialized and may not be inferable for many learners without prior knowledge of the base word.

Etymology

Spirochetal comes from spirochete, a name made from spiro- meaning 'coil' or 'spiral' and -chete meaning 'hair', because these bacteria look like tiny twisted threads. So spirochetal means 'relating to or caused by' those spiral-shaped bacteria.