stroma
Americannoun
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Cell Biology. the supporting framework or matrix of a cell.
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Anatomy. the supporting framework, usually of connective tissue, of an organ, as distinguished from the parenchyma.
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Mycology. (in certainfungi ) a compact mass of tissue, in or on which the fructifications may be developed.
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Botany. the matrix of a chloroplast containing various molecules and ions.
noun
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the gel-like matrix of chloroplasts and certain cells
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the fibrous connective tissue forming the matrix of the mammalian ovary and testis
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a dense mass of hyphae that is produced by certain fungi and gives rise to spore-producing bodies
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stroma
First recorded in 1825–35; from Late Latin strōma “mattress,” from Greek strôma “bed-covering”; akin to Latin sternere “to spread, strew, ” strātum ( see stratum)
Vocabulary lists containing stroma
Photosynthesis - Middle School
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Photosynthesis - High School
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Plants (Botany) - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers examined 24 pancreatic cancer samples and found that the stroma, the connective tissue that supports the tumor, plays an active role in cancer progression rather than serving as a passive structure.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 30, 2026
The Calvin cycle, which takes place in the stroma, uses energy derived from these compounds to make GA3P from CO2.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Differences: mitochondria have a matrix and inner folds called cristae; chloroplast contains accessory pigments in thylakoids, which form grana and a stroma.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
These energy- carrying molecules are made in the stroma where carbon fixation takes place.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
As the disease progresses, the stroma of the iris atrophies and contracts.
From Glaucoma A Symposium Presented at a Meeting of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society, November 17, 1913 by Nance, Willis O.
The same functions of storage in advance of fructification are also exercised by the stromata so common in Ascomycetes.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
