metaplasm

[ met-uh-plaz-uhm ]

noun

Cell Biology. the nonliving matter or inclusions, as starch or pigments, within a cell.
Grammar.
- a change in the structure of a word or sentence made by adding, removing, or transposing the sounds or words of which it is composed or the letters that represent them.
- the formation of oblique cases from a stem other than that of the nominative.

Origin of metaplasm

1375–1425; late Middle English metaplasmus “grammatical change, irregularity” <Latin <Greek metaplasmós “reforming, remodeling,” derivative of metaplássein “to mold differently, remodel.” See meta-, -plasm

Other words from metaplasm

met·a·plas·mic, adjective

Words Nearby metaplasm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use metaplasm in a sentence

Each metaplasm in the body favors the inactive break-up of protoplasm, and so also the formation of new metaplasms.
The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for metaplasm

metaplasm

/ (ˈmɛtəˌplæzəm) /

noun

the nonliving constituents, such as starch and pigment granules, of the cytoplasm of a cell

Derived forms of metaplasm

metaplasmic, adjective

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

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