desmid

American

[dez-mid] / ˈdɛz mɪd /

noun

any single-celled freshwater algae of the family Desmidiaceae, characterized by a division of the body into mirror-image halves joined by a bridge containing the nucleus, and having a spiny or bristly exterior: sometimes forming into colonies or branching filaments.

desmid British

/ ˈdɛsmɪd /

noun

any freshwater green alga of the mainly unicellular family Desmidioideae , typically constricted into two symmetrical halves

"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

Other Word Forms

desmidian

adjective

Etymology

Origin of desmid

1860–65; < New Latin Desmidium a genus of the family < Greek desm ( ós ) a band, chain (compare deîn to fasten) + New Latin -idium -idium

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.

Light micrograph B shows a oval green desmid cell.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

He will often repeatedly try to take a desmid entirely too large for his mouth, and his manœuvres are quite comical as he whirls it round and round, nipping it on all sides.

From Through a Microscope Something of the Science Together with many Curious Observations Indoor and Out and Directions for a Home-made Microscope. by Sargent, Frederick Leroy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023