cryptococcus

noun

cryp·​to·​coc·​cus ˌkrip-tə-ˈkä-kəs 

plural cryptococci ˌkrip-tə-ˈkäk-ˌsī 

-ˌsē,

-ˈkä-ˌkī,

-ˌkē

: any of a genus (Cryptococcus) of budding imperfect fungi that resemble yeasts and include a number of saprophytes and a few serious pathogens

cryptococcal

ˌkrip-tə-ˈkä-kəl 

adjective

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from crypto- crypto- + -coccus -coccus

Note: Taxon introduced by the German pharmacist and phycologist Friedrich Traugott Kützing (1807-93) in "Beitrag zur Kenntnis über die Entstehung und Metamorphose der niedern vegetabilischen Organismen," Linnaea, vol. 8 (1833), p. 339. Kützing appears to have so named what he characterized as "farblose Schleimkügelchen" ("colorless balls of slime") because of his difficulty in seeing them. As a valid description of a taxon Kützing's work has given way to an account by the French mycologist Jean Paul Vuillemin in "Les blastomycètes pathogènes," Revue générales des sciences pures et appliquées, vol. 12 (1901), pp. 732-51.

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cryptococcus

noun

cryp·​to·​coc·​cus -ˈkäk-əs 

1

capitalized : a genus of budding imperfect fungi that resemble yeasts and include a number of saprophytes and a few serious pathogens

2

plural cryptococci -ˈkäk-ˌ(s)ī, -(ˌ)(s)ē  : any fungus of the genus Cryptococcus

cryptococcal

-ˈkäk-əl 

adjective