-plast

American  

1. a combining form meaning “living substance,” “organelle,” “cell,” used in the formation of compound words.

   chloroplast; chromoplast; protoplast.

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-plast British  

combining form

1. indicating an organized living cell or particle of living matter

   protoplast

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Usage

What does -plast mean? The combining form -plast is used like a suffix meaning “living substance,” "cell," or "organelle." An organelle is "a cell organ." The form -plast is often used in scientific terms, especially in biology. The form -plast comes from the Greek plastós, meaning “formed, molded.” Find out how plastós is related to plasma, plaster, and plastic at our entry for each word. What are variants of -plast?The form -plast does not have any variants. However, it is related to the forms -plastic and -plasty, as in fibroplastic and rhinoplasty. Additional related forms include -plasia, -plasy, -and -plasm. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for these forms.

Etymology

Origin of -plast

Combining form representing Greek plastós formed, molded, equivalent to plath-, base of plássein to form, mold + -tos verbal adjective suffix, with tht > st. See plastic