microbiology

IPA/ˌmaɪkrəʊbaɪˈɒlədʒi/
KK[mˌaɪkrobˌaɪˈɑlədʒi]IPA/ˌmaɪkrəʊbaɪˈɑːlədʒi/

microbiology — noun

1. the scientific field that examines living organisms too small to be seen clearly

1.nounB2
Definition

the scientific field that examines living organisms too small to be seen clearly without a microscope, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi

Example

Ezra chose to study microbiology at university in order to understand how bacteria cause illness.

study + [academic subject] at university

The microbiology lab at Kaohsiung Medical University tests local water samples for harmful germs.

collocation: microbiology lab

Common collocations
  • study microbiology
  • microbiology lab
  • microbiology course
  • microbiology research
  • microbiology department
  • microbiology paper
  • microbiology textbook
Synonyms
  • microbial science

    broader term; can include related fields such as microbial ecology and microbial genetics

  • bacteriology

    narrower — focuses only on bacteria, not viruses, fungi, or protozoa

  • virology

    narrower — restricted to the study of viruses specifically

Grammar Patterns

microbiology + noun (e.g. microbiology lab, microbiology course)

study + microbiology

Usage Note

Uncountable noun — you cannot say 'a microbiology' or 'microbiologies.' Often used before another noun (e.g., microbiology lab, microbiology course) or with the verb 'study.'

Common Mistakes

She works in a microscope lab.
She works in a microbiology lab.
'microscope' is the instrument used to see things; 'microbiology' is the scientific field that studies tiny living things.
He is learning micro-biology at college.
He is learning microbiology at college.
'microbiology' is written as one word with no hyphen.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Microbiology is the broadest term, covering the study of all microscopic organisms — bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and algae. Bacteriology is a subfield focused solely on bacteria, which is useful in medical and environmental contexts where bacteria are the main concern. Virology, another subfield, deals exclusively with viruses and how they infect host cells. Microbial science is a near-synonym of microbiology but often implies a more applied or interdisciplinary approach, including aspects of genetics and ecology. For example, a hospital lab might hire a bacteriologist to identify bacterial infections, while a university department called 'microbial science' could combine microbiology with molecular biology. If you want to refer to the entire discipline at a general level, 'microbiology' is the most natural and widely understood choice.

microbiology ↗bacteriology ↗virology ↗microbial science

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • branch of microbiology
  • field of microbiology
  • study of microbiology

Prepositions

  • in microbiology
  • of microbiology
  • for microbiology

Etymology

Greekscientific LatinEnglish

Microbiology was formed in the late 1800s by combining three Greek elements: 'mikros' meaning 'small,' 'bios' meaning 'life,' and '-logia' meaning 'study of.' The term appeared as scientists using improved microscopes began to discover and investigate bacteria and other tiny life forms in a systematic way.