metaplasm
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met·a·plasm 1
(mĕt′ə-plăz′əm)n.
Alteration of a word by the addition, omission, or transposition of sounds or syllables or the letters that represent them.
[Middle English metaplasmus, from Latin, from Greek metaplasmos, remodeling, from metaplassein, to remold : meta-, meta- + plassein, to mold; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]
met′a·plas′tic (-plăs′tĭk), met′a·plas′mic (-plăz′mĭk) adj.
met·a·plasm 2
(mĕt′ə-plăz′əm)n.
Cellular materials such as pigment granules or starch grains that were formerly considered to be nonliving, in contrast to the protoplasm.
met′a·plas′mic (-plăz′mĭk) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
metaplasm
(ˈmɛtəˌplæzəm)n
(Physiology) the nonliving constituents, such as starch and pigment granules, of the cytoplasm of a cell
ˌmetaˈplasmic adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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