blasto-

American  

especially before a vowel, blast-

1. a combining form meaning “bud, sprout,” “embryo,” “formative cells or cell layer,” used in the formation of compound words.

   blastosphere.

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blasto- British  

combining form

1. (in biology) indicating an embryo or bud or the process of budding

   blastoderm

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Usage

What does blasto- mean? The combining form blasto- is used like a prefix that literally means “bud, sprout.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in anatomy and biology, to mean "embryo" or "formative cells or cell layer."The form blasto- comes from Greek blastós, meaning “bud” and “sprout.” The Latin translation of blastós is germen, “sprout” or “seed,” which is the source of germ, germane, and germinal. Find out more at our entry for each word. What are variants of blasto-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, blasto- becomes blast-, as in blastoma. When used as a suffix, the combining form blasto- is -blast, as in ectoblast.

Etymology

Origin of blasto-

< Greek, combining form of blastós a bud, sprout