cocco-, cocc-, -coccus, -cocci, -coccal, -cocca

A bacterium with a shape intermediate between coccus (bacterium with a rounded or spherical shape) and bacillus (rod-shaped cell).

A small, rounded, marine organism, capable of braking up into coccoliths or microscopic structures of varying shapes and sizes that are made of calcite, are secreted by calcareous nannoplankton, and form chalk and limestone when fossilized.

Coccoliths range in size from one to thirty-five micrometers in size.

Referring to a brilliant red color: The vivid cochineal dye originates from the dried female body of the insect cochineal and used for colouring food, for example.

1. A fungal infection characterized by nodular lesions, first in the lungs and then spreading to the nervous system.
2. An acute, subacute, or chronic infection by the fungal organism, Cryptococcus neoformans.

Infection generally causes a pulmonary (lung) infection but it may also spread to the meninges.

The pulmonary form is generally mild and transient (often unrecognized).

With dissemination, lesions may occur in the skeletal, cutaneus, and visceral tissues. The most commonly recognized dissemination is to the central nervous system (meningitis).