See Also: tristesse(dictionary)

pneumococcus (sh) and tristesse (iou)


pneumococcus (sh)




Spheroidal bacterium (Streptococcus pneumoniae) that causes human diseases including pneumonia, sinusitis, ear infection, and meningitis.

Usually occurring in the upper respiratory tract, this gram-positive (see gram stain) coccus is often found in a chain configuration and surrounded by a polysaccharide capsule. Pneumococci are separated into types depending on the specific capsular polysaccharide formed. Their disease-causing ability resides in the capsule, which delays or prevents their destruction by cells in the bloodstream that normally engulf foreign material.


tristesse (iou)



tristesse noun. LME.
[Old French tristesce (mod. tristesse) from Latin tristitia, from tristis: see TRISTE, -ESS2.]
Sadness, sorrow; melancholy.