細菌

さいきん · saikin · JLPT N1 · noun

bacterium

🦠 細菌 = 細 (tiny, sai) + 菌 (germ, kin): tiny germs, the bacterium

細 is read sai here and means fine or tiny. 菌 is read kin and means germ or fungus. Put together, sai-kin names the tiny germs that cause disease.

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