protoplasm
Americannoun
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Biology. (no longer in technical use) the colloidal and liquid substance of which cells are formed, excluding horny, chitinous, and other structural material; the cytoplasm and nucleus.
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Obsolete. the living matter of organisms regarded as the physical basis of life, having the ability to sense and conduct stimuli.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of protoplasm
From the New Latin word prōtoplasma, dating back to 1840–50. See proto-, -plasm
Compare meaning
How does protoplasm compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Protoplasm is the gooey stuff that living cells are made of. A cell's protoplasm is colorless and surrounded by a plasma membrane. Sometimes people use protoplasm to mean “formless blob of life.” There are many elements that make up the protoplasm of a cell, including the nucleus, amino acids, lipids, and ions. Scientists generally use the word protoplasm to mean the cytoplasm plus the nucleus. It was coined in the 1840s by a German scientist, from the Greek roots proto, "first," and plasma, "something molded or formed."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Protoplasm always contains at least twelve elements: calcium, carbon, chlorine, hydrogen, iron, magnesium, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulphur.
From Time Magazine Archive
I should like to know,' cried the professor angrily, 'where we should all be without Protoplasm.'
From 'That Very Mab' by Kendall, May
Protoplasm can do perfectly well without the one, but water cannot for a moment dispense with the other.
From Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics With Some of Their Applications by Thornton, William Thomas
Let us examine for a moment this substance Protoplasm, and see in what way it differs from inorganic matter, or in what way the animate differs from the inanimate—the living from the dead.
From Was Man Created? by Mott, Henry A. (Henry Augustus)
Protoplasm is invaluable, but is it not also transient?
From 'That Very Mab' by Kendall, May
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
