diphtheroid, a. and n.
(ˈdɪfθərɔɪd)
[f. as prec. + -oid.]
A. adj. Of the form or appearance of diphtheria.
| 1861 Bumstead Ven. Dis. (1879) 450 Diphtheroid [chancre] of the glans. 1883 Syd. Soc. Lex., Diphtheroïd, like a tanned skin, or like Diphtheria, or a diphtheritic product. Ibid., Diphtheroid ulceration. |
B. n. Any bacillus, esp. of the genus Corynebacterium, which resembles the diphtheria bacillus but is not pathogenic.
| 1908 Practitioner Jan. 138 The true diphtheria bacillus, and not one of these diphtheroids. 1949 H. W. Florey et al. Antibiotics I. v. 221 Diphtheroids, streptococci, and L. acidophilus were completely inhibited by that concentration. 1962 Lancet 5 May 933/1 The effect could also be elicited by..a diphtheroid. |