plasmodium
Biology. an ameboid, multinucleate mass or sheet of cytoplasm characteristic of some stages of organisms, as of myxomycetes or slime molds.
any parasitic protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, causing malaria in humans.
Origin of plasmodium
1Other words from plasmodium
- plas·mo·di·al, adjective
Words Nearby plasmodium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use plasmodium in a sentence
Malaria, a disease caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, affects more than 200 million people around the world every year.
A malaria vaccine with live parasites shows promise in a small trial | Erin Garcia de Jesús | June 30, 2021 | Science NewsOccurring in large colonies on barkless decaying logs of various species; the plasmodium almost colorless.
The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBrideThe fructification appears to be isolated in each case; the entire plasmodium consumed in a single plasmodiocarp.
The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBrideThe plasmodium as it emerges to form fruit is pale pink or flesh color, slowly deepening to brown as maturity advances.
The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBrideThis author throws some doubt on the species he describes by suggesting that the plasmodium may be red.
The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
The color is an uncertain thing even in the sporangia, which rise from one plasmodium.
The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
British Dictionary definitions for plasmodium
/ (plæzˈməʊdɪəm) /
an amoeboid mass of protoplasm, containing many nuclei: a stage in the life cycle of certain organisms, esp the nonreproductive stage of the slime moulds
any parasitic sporozoan protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, such as P. falciparum and P. vivax, which cause malaria
Origin of plasmodium
1Derived forms of plasmodium
- plasmodial, 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
Scientific definitions for plasmodium
[ plăz-mō′dē-əm ]
A mass of protoplasm having many cell nuclei but not divided into separate cells. It is formed by the combination of many amoeba-like cells and is characteristic of the active, feeding phase of certain slime molds.
Any of various single-celled organisms (called protozoans) that exist as parasites in vertebrate animals, one of which causes malaria.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse