germ theory

1. 1.

   (medicine) the theory that all contagious diseases are caused by microorganisms

   Broaderscientific theory

   medicine

Questions about germ theory

What does germ theory mean?

germ theory means "(medicine) the theory that all contagious diseases are caused by microorganisms".

Is germ theory a common word?

germ theory 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.