protoplasm
- Biology. (no longer in technical use) the colloidal and liquid substance of which cells are formed, excluding horny, chitinous, and other structural material; the cytoplasm and nucleus.
- Obsolete. the living matter of organisms regarded as the physical basis of life, having the ability to sense and conduct stimuli.
Origin of protoplasm
Examples from the Web for protoplasmic
Historical Examples
Protoplasmic movements, you know, and unicellular plants and animals.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
A neurone35 is a protoplasmic cell, with its outgrowing fibers.
The Mind and Its EducationGeorge Herbert Betts
Yet even this protoplasmic life must see the changing shapes of things.
Eight Keys to EdenMark Irvin Clifton
Have we then any suggestion as to the method of the origin of this protoplasmic machine?
The Story of the Living MachineH. W. Conn
His cross-eyes, his crooked nose, his artistic talents—all these pre-existed in the form of a protoplasmic cell.
ReincarnationSwami Abhedananda
protoplasm
- biology the living contents of a cell, differentiated into cytoplasm and nucleoplasm
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for protoplasmic
protoplasm
n.
1848, from German Protoplasma (1846), used by German botanist Hugo von Mohl (1805-1872), on notion of "first-formed," from Greek proto- "first" (see proto-) + plasma "something molded" (see -plasm).
The word was in Late Latin with a sense of "first created thing," and it might have existed in ecclesiastical Greek in a different sense. It was used 1839 by Czech physiologist Johannes Evangelista Purkinje (1787-1869) to denote the gelatinous fluid found in living tissue. The modern meaning is a refinement of this. This word prevailed, though German language purists preferred Urschleim "original mucus."
protoplasm
(prō′tə-plăz′əm)- The complex, semifluid, translucent substance that constitutes the living matter of plant and animal cells and manifests the essential life functions of a cell. Composed of proteins, fats, and other molecules suspended in water, it includes the nucleus and cytoplasm.
protoplasm
- The semifluid, translucent substance that forms the living matter in all plant and animal cells. Composed of proteins, fats, and other substances suspended in water, it includes the cytoplasm and (in eukaryotes) the nucleus.
protoplasm
The jellylike material in a cell, both inside and outside the nucleus, where the chemical reactions that support life take place.