idioplasma

English

Alternative forms

• idioplasm

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own; proper, peculiar”) + πλάσμα (plásma, “form, mold”). Equivalent to idio- +‎ -plasm. Coined by Carl Nägeli.

Noun

idioplasma (uncountable)

1. (biology, archaic) A portion of the cell protoplasm which is the seat of all active changes, and which carries on the function of hereditary transmission; distinguished from the other portion, which is termed nutritive plasma.

See also

• hygroplasm

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “idioplasma”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)