organism

[ awr-guh-niz-uhm ]

/ ˈɔr gəˌnɪz əm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR organism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a form of life composed of mutually interdependent parts that maintain various vital processes.

a form of life considered as an entity; an animal, plant, fungus, protistan, or moneran.

any organized body or system conceived of as analogous to a living being: the governmental organism.

any complex thing or system having properties and functions determined not only by the properties and relations of its individual parts, but by the character of the whole that they compose and by the relations of the parts to the whole.

Nearby words

Origin of organism

First recorded in 1655–65; organ + -ism

SYNONYMS FOR organism

4. organization, network, entity, structure.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR organism ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsor·gan·is·mic, or·gan·is·mal, adjectiveor·gan·is·mi·cal·ly, adverbsu·per·or·gan·ism, noun

Can be confusedorganism orgasm

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

Examples from the Web for organism

They need to become streamlined: an organism that is basically very primitive.
Vampires without Glitter or Girl Problems: Inside Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Strain’|Andrew Romano|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
WGA is classified as a lectin—a term for a protein produced by an organism to protect itself from predation.
Wheat Threatens All Humans, New Research Shows|David Perlmutter, MD|December 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And those necessary steps tend to mean that the organism behaves as a unit.
Rediscovering Richard Dawkins: An Interview|J.P. O’Malley|September 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It decides to pounce on a prey, to hide in the grass, to take off and fly, so the organism does behave as a very unitary entity.
Rediscovering Richard Dawkins: An Interview|J.P. O’Malley|September 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Gerwig: Sometimes we had that element of moving as one organism: the damsels.
The Damsels in ‘Damsels in Distress’ Discuss the Film, Director Whit Stillman, and Women in Films|Geoff Berkshire|April 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I will describe this double stage of the organism by the phrase 'larval dimorphism.'
The Life of the Fly|J. Henri Fabre
Thus, great size in an organism is likely to be produced at the expense of the germinal cell-forming molecules.
The Making of Species|Douglas Dewar
No matter how well you may know each single part, yet you will not understand the whole machine or organism by this means alone.
The Positive Outcome of Philosophy|Joseph Dietzgen
Every variation of every organism is in some measure determined by the constitution of the organism.
Theism|Robert Flint
Dying is that breakdown in an organism which throws it out of correspondence with some necessary part of the environment.
Natural Law in the Spiritual World|Henry Drummond

British Dictionary definitions for organism

organism

/ (ˈɔːɡəˌnɪzəm) /

noun

any living biological entity, such as an animal, plant, fungus, or bacterium

anything resembling a living creature in structure, behaviour, etc

Derived Formsorganismal or organismic, adjectiveorganismally, adverb

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 organism

organism

1660s, "organic structure, organization," from organize + -ism. Sense of "living animal or plant" first recorded 1842. Related: Organismic.

Medicine definitions for organism

organism

[ ôr′gə-nĭz′əm ]

n.

An individual form of life, such as a plant, animal, bacterium, protist, or fungus; a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life.

Related formsor′gan•is′mal (-nĭz′məl) null adj.

Science definitions for organism

organism

[ ôr′gə-nĭz′əm ]

An individual form of life that is capable of growing, metabolizing nutrients, and usually reproducing. Organisms can be unicellular or multicellular. They are scientifically divided into five different groups (called kingdoms) that include prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals, and that are further subdivided based on common ancestry and homology of anatomic and molecular structures.