blastema

[ bla-stee-muh ]

/ blæˈsti mə /

Save This Word!

noun, plural blas·te·mas, blas·te·ma·ta

[bla-stee-muh-tuh]. /blæˈsti mə tə/. Embryology.

an aggregation of cells in an early embryo, capable of differentiation into specialized tissue and organs.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of blastema

1840–50; <New Latin <Greek blástēma (blastē- verbid stem of blasteîn to sprout + -ma noun suffix denoting result of action)

OTHER WORDS FROM blastema

blas·te·mal, blas·te·mat·ic

[blas-tuh-mat-ik], /ˌblæs təˈmæt ɪk/, blas·te·mic

[bla-stee-mik, -steem-ik], /blæˈsti mɪk, -ˈstim ɪk/, adjective

Words nearby blastema

blasphemous, blasphemy, blast, blast cell, blasted, blastema, blast furnace, blast-furnace cement, -blastic, blasting, blasting gelatin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use blastema in a sentence

In animals, he says, the endogenous method is rare, and the customary origin is in an external blastema.
The Popular Science Monthly, October, 1900|Various
The first stage corresponds to the process of organization, the gelatine representing the blastema, and the drop the nucleus.
The Mechanism of Life|Stphane Leduc
This mass of mesoblastic cells may be called the metanephric blastema.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)|Francis Maitland Balfour
He says the abnormal cell-forms present arise in some other way than by free cell-development out of an exuded blastema.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various

My first doubts of the blastema doctrine date from my researches on tubercle.
The World's Greatest Books - Volume 15 - Science|Various

British Dictionary definitions for blastema

blastema

/ (blæˈstiːmə) /

noun plural -mas or -mata (-mətə)

a mass of undifferentiated animal cells that will develop into an organ or tissue: present at the site of regeneration of a lost part

Derived forms of blastema

blastemic (blæˈstiːmɪk, -ˈstɛm-), adjective

Word Origin for blastema

C19: from New Latin, from Greek: offspring, from blastos bud

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for blastema

blastema

[ blă-stē′mə ]

The formative, undifferentiated material from which cells are formed.

A mass of embryonic cells from which an organ or a body part develops, either in normal development or in the regeneration of a lost body part.

Other words from blastema

blas•te′mal null null adj.