chlamydia

UK: /kləˈmɪdɪə/ US: (klə mid′ē ə)

Inflections of 'chlamydia' (n): npl: chlamydiae

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

chla•myd•i•a  (klə mid′ē ə), n., pl. -myd•i•ae 

(-mid′ē ē′). 
1. Microbiology any coccoid rickettsia of the genus Chlamydia, parasitic in birds and mammals, including humans, and causing various infections, esp. of the eyes, as trachoma, lungs, as psittacosis, and genitourinary tract, as urethritis or chlamydia.
2. Pathology Also called lymphogranuloma venereum. a widespread, often asymptomatic sexually transmitted disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a major cause of nongonococcal urethritis in men and pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy in women.

• Greek chlamyd-, stem of chlamýs chlamys + Neo-Latin -ia -ia
• Neo-Latin
• 1945

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

chlamydia / kləˈmɪdɪə/ noun ( -midiae / -ˈmɪdɪiː/)

1. any Gram-negative bacteria of the genus Chlamydia, which are obligate intracellular parasites and are responsible for such diseases as trachoma, psittacosis, and some sexually transmitted diseases

Etymology: 20th Century: New Latin, from Greek khlamus mantle + -ia