cyst

[sist]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cyst ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Pathology. a closed, bladderlike sac formed in animal tissues, containing fluid or semifluid matter.

a bladder, sac, or vesicle.

Botany, Mycology.

a sporelike cell with a resistant, protective wall.
a cell or cavity enclosing reproductive bodies.

Zoology.

a sac, usually spherical, surrounding an animal that has passed into a dormant condition.
such a sac plus the contained animal.
a capsule or resistant covering.

Origin of cyst

1705–15; < New Latin cystis < Greek kýstis bag, pouch, the bladder; akin to kŷma cyma

cyst-

variant of cysto-, before a vowel: cystectomy.

-cyst

variant of cysto-, as final element in a compound word: statocyst.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cyst

sac, sore, blister, vesicle, bag, injury, pouch, wen, bleb

Examples from the Web for cyst

Contemporary Examples of cyst

In “The Incalculable Life Gesture,” an elementary school principal develops a cyst in his throat that may or may not be malignant.
Quick Reads for the Asylum
Taylor Antrim
August 13, 2009

Historical Examples of cyst

Was it complacence or suspicion that stirred the liquid in the cyst so smoothly?
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
Various
This case had not proceeded far enough for the formation of the cyst or pus.
Cattle and Their Diseases
Robert Jennings
I had a cyst, of fifteen years' growth, on the back of my head.
My Adventures with Your Money
George Graham Rice
Except venereal disorders and a cyst, which he had as a child, has never been ill.
The Criminal
Havelock Ellis
After emptying the cyst the gut was readily discovered and opened.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II
Various

British Dictionary definitions for cyst

cyst

noun

pathol any abnormal membranous sac or blisterlike pouch containing fluid or semisolid material

anatomy any normal sac or vesicle in the body

a thick-walled protective membrane enclosing a cell, larva, or organism

Word Origin for cyst

C18: from New Latin cystis, from Greek kustis pouch, bag, bladder

-cyst

n combining form

indicating a bladder or sacotocyst

Word Origin for -cyst

from Greek kustis bladder

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

Word Origin and History for cyst

1713, from Modern Latin cystis (in English as a Latin word from 1540s), from Greek kystis "bladder, pouch."

cyst in Medicine

cyst

[sĭst]

n.

An abnormal membranous sac containing a gaseous, liquid, or semisolid substance.

A sac or vesicle in the body.

A small capsulelike sac that encloses certain organisms in their dormant or larval stage.

cyst-

pref.

Variant ofcysto-

cyst in Science

cyst

[sĭst]

An abnormal membranous sac in the body, containing a gaseous, liquid, or semisolid substance.

A small, capsulelike form of certain organisms that develops in response to adverse or extreme conditions. Under adverse conditions, for instance, dinoflagellates form nonmotile resting cysts that fall to the ocean or lake bottom and can remain there for years before reviving. Certain invertebrates, such as the water bear (phylum Tardigrada), also develop cysts.

cyst in Culture

cyst

[(sist)]

An abnormal saclike structure that develops in the body and is filled with fluid or semisolid material.