The Chinese word 细菌 (xìjūn, meaning "bacteria") is formed by combining two characters: 细 (xì), which means "fine", "small", or "tiny", and 菌 (jūn), which means "fungus", "bacterium", or "microorganism". The concept is constructed logically by specifying a type of microorganism distinguished by its minute, fine size, effectively creating the meaning "tiny microbe" or "fine germ" to denote bacteria.