escherichia coli

1. 1.

   a species of bacterium normally present in intestinal tract of humans and other animals; sometimes pathogenic; can be a threat to food safety

   SynonymsE. coli

   Broaderescherichia

Questions about escherichia coli

What does escherichia coli mean?

escherichia coli means "a species of bacterium normally present in intestinal tract of humans and other animals; sometimes pathogenic; can be a threat to food safety".

What is another word for escherichia coli?

Close synonyms include E. coli. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is escherichia coli a common word?

escherichia coli is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.