Definition of "gonococcus" [‖Gon•o•coc•cus]

• The bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of gonorrhea. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "[Illustration: GONORRHEA. GERMS.] = Gonorrhea = is an inflammation caused by a germ called the gonococcus, discovered by Dr.A. Neisser, of Breslau, Germany, in 1879."
• "In gonorrhea we have a special organism called the "gonococcus"; while in tuberculosis -- a variety of inflammation in which the blood-vessels are completely destroyed and a change or degeneration called "cheesy" is produced, leading to the production of a tubercle -- a rod-like bacillus is invariably found, the well-known and unfortunately too common tubercle bacillus."
• "In 1879 a new stage of more precise knowledge of the venereal diseases began with Neisser's discovery of the gonococcus which is the specific cause of gonorrhoea."