spirochete

noun

spi·​ro·​chete ˈspī-rə-ˌkēt 

variants or less commonly spirochaete

: any of an order (Spirochaetales) of slender spirally undulating bacteria including those causing syphilis and Lyme disease

Examples of spirochete in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ticks collected in California as early as 2000 were found to carry the new spirochete, for example. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 13 Apr. 2023

To this day, the mechanism of action of this malaria-on-syphilis, parasite-on-spirochete action is unknown (7). —Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2014

The spirochete lives permanently as a symbiont in the patient. —Dick Teresi, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2011

The factor that determines whether acute Lyme disease becomes chronic is the interval between inoculation of the Lyme spirochete and the commencement of adequate treatment. —BostonGlobe.com, 3 June 2022

Multiple sclerosis is often associated with the commonplace Epstein-Barr virus, rheumatic fever with the same bacteria that cause strep throat, and Lyme, famously, with bites from ticks that carry a spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi. —Ross Douthat, Star Tribune, 2 Feb. 2021

Through this method, India became yaws-free in 2016, though the emergence of antibiotic resistance in the spirochete may complicate efforts. —Quanta Magazine, 3 Dec. 2019

Acute encephalitis syndrome, including Japanese encephalitis, is caused by several different viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, spirochetes, chemical and toxins. —Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2019

Barbour had spent the year learning the complex requirements for growing Borrelia, a type of spirochete transmitted by ticks or lice. —Allen Steere, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Aug. 2019

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin Spirochaeta, bacterial genus, from Latin spīra "coil, twist, whorl" + Greek -o- -o- + chaítē "growth of hair, flowing locks" — more at spire entry 3, chaeta

Note: The genus was introduced by the German zoologist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795-1876) in "Dritter Beitrag zur Erkenntnis grosser Organisation in der Richtung des kleinsten Raumes," Physikalische Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin: aus dem Jahre 1833 (Berlin, 1835), p. 313. Ehrenberg had found the organism, which he named Spirochaeta plicatilis (Latin plicātilis "capable of being folded"), in water left from the previous winter ("im überwinterten Wasser") in Berlin on April 2, 1832.

First Known Use

circa 1877, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

spirochete

noun

spi·​ro·​chete

variants also spirochaete

ˈspī-rə-ˌkēt 

: any of a group of slender coiled bacteria including one that causes syphilis

Medical Definition

spirochete

noun

spi·​ro·​chete

variants or chiefly British spirochaete

ˈspī-rə-ˌkēt 

: any bacterium of the order Spirochaetales including those causing syphilis and relapsing fever