bacteria inhabiting the gut of man and animals, by 1921, short for Escherichia coli (1911), named for German physician Theodor Escherich (1857-1911) with Latin genitive of colon "colon" (see colon (n.2)).
Entries linking to e. coli
colon n.2
"large intestine," late 14c., from Latin colon, Latinized form of Greek kolon (with a short initial -o-) "large intestine," which is of unknown origin.
coliform adj.
"resembling a bacillus of the coli group," 1894, from coli (see E. coli) + -form. Earlier (1850s) an identical word meant "resembling a sieve," from Latin colum "strainer" (see colander).