spherical-shaped bacteria, plural of Latin coccus (attested from 1883 as a bacterium name), from Greek kokkos "berry" (see cocco-).
Entries linking to cocci
cocco-
word-forming element meaning "berry, seed," or something shaped like them, from Latinized form of Greek kokkos "a grain, a seed," especially "kermes-berry, gall of the kermes oak" (actually an insect), which yields scarlet dye, a word of unknown origin, perhaps from a non-Greek source.