salmonella

noun sal·mo·nel·la \ˌsal-mə-ˈne-lə\

: a kind of bacteria that is sometimes in food and that makes people sick

plural sal·mo·nel·lae\-ˈne-(ˌ)lē, -ˌlī\ or sal·mo·nellas or sal·mo·nella

Full Definition of SALMONELLA

: any of a genus (Salmonella) of usually motile enterobacteria that are pathogenic for humans and other warm-blooded animals and cause food poisoning, gastrointestinal inflammation, typhoid fever, or septicemia

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Origin of SALMONELLA

New Latin, from Daniel E. Salmon †1914 American veterinarian

First Known Use: 1913

Other Microbiology Terms

pathogen, tetanus

Rhymes with SALMONELLA

a cappella, Cinderella, citronella, columella, fraxinella, mortadella, mozzarella, panatela, subumbrella, tarantella, villanella

Medical Dictionary

salmonella

noun sal·mo·nel·la \ˌsal-mə-ˈnel-ə\

Medical Definition of SALMONELLA

capitalized : a genus of aerobic gram-negative rod-shaped nonspore-forming usually motile bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae that grow well on artificial media and form acid and gas on many carbohydrates but not on lactose, sucrose, or salicin, that are pathogenic for humans and other warm-blooded animals, and that cause food poisoning, acute gastrointestinal inflammation, typhoid fever, and septicemia

plural sal·mo·nel·lae \-ˈnel-ē\ or sal·mo·nellas or sal·mo·nella : any bacterium of the genus Salmonella

Biographical Note for SALMONELLA

Salm·on \ˈsam-ən\ , Daniel Elmer (1850–1914), American veterinarian. For the greater part of his career Salmon was associated with the United States Department of Agriculture, having joined the department to investigate diseases of domestic animals, especially Texas fever. He later founded and became chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry. In 1900 the genus Salmonella of bacteria was named after him.