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protoplast

[proh-tuh-plast]
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noun
  1. Biology.
    1. the contents of a cell within the cell membrane, considered as a fundamental entity.
    2. the primordial living unit or cell.
  2. a person or thing that is formed first; original; prototype.
  3. the hypothetical first individual or one of the supposed first pair of a species or the like.
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Origin of protoplast

1525–35; < Late Latin prōtoplastus the first man, noun use of Greek prōtóplastos formed first. See proto-, -plast
Related formspro·to·plas·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for protoplast

Historical Examples

  • He furrowed his protoplast brow that looked as youthful as it had a century ago.

    Man Made

    Albert R. Teichner

  • I came out of the chamber all protoplast except for the spinal zone.

    Man Made

    Albert R. Teichner

  • For this, the simplest form of the protoplast community is a single pair.

    Opuscula

    Robert Gordon Latham

  • Verse cxxiv., protoplast, the original, the thing first formed.

  • Fortunately the time was already past when protoplast patients were looked upon as something mildly freakish and to be pitied.

    Man Made

    Albert R. Teichner

British Dictionary definitions for protoplast

protoplast

noun
  1. a unit consisting of the living parts of a cell, including the protoplasm and cell membrane but not the vacuoles or (in plants) the cell wall
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Derived Formsprotoplastic, adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Late Latin prōtoplastus the first-formed, from Greek prōtoplastos, from proto- + plassein to shape
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
protoplast in Medicine

protoplast

(prō′tə-plăst′)
n.
  1. The living material of a plant or bacterial cell, including the protoplasm and plasma membrane after the cell wall has been removed.
  2. One that is the first made or formed; a prototype.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.