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organisms

 - 6 dictionary results

or⋅gan⋅ism

  [awr-guh-niz-uhm]
–noun
1. a form of life composed of mutually interdependent parts that maintain various vital processes.
2. a form of life considered as an entity; an animal, plant, fungus, protistan, or moneran.
3. any organized body or system conceived of as analogous to a living being: the governmental organism.
4. any complex thing or system having properties and functions determined not only by the properties and relations of its individual parts, but by the character of the whole that they compose and by the relations of the parts to the whole.
Use organisms in a Sentence
Origin:
1655–65; organ + -ism

Related forms:
or⋅gan⋅is⋅mic, or⋅gan⋅is⋅mal, adjective
or⋅gan⋅is⋅mi⋅cal⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
4. organization, network, entity, structure.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To organisms
or·gan·ism   (ôr'gə-nĭz'əm)   
n.  

  1. An individual form of life, such as a plant, animal, bacterium, protist, or fungus; a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life.

  2. A system regarded as analogous in its structure or functions to a living body: the social organism.

or'gan·is'mal (-nĭz'məl), or'gan·is'mic (-mĭk) adj., or'gan·is'mi·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

organism 
1664, "organic structure, organization," from organize (q.v.). Sense of "living animal or plant" first recorded 1842.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: or·gan·ism
Pronunciation: 'or-g&-"niz-&m
Function: noun
: an individual constituted to carry on the activities of life bymeans of organs separate in function but mutually dependent : a living being —or·gan·is·mic /"or-g&-'niz-mik/ also or·gan·is·mal /-m&l/ adjective —or·gan·is·mi·cal·ly /-mi-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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organism or·gan·ism (ôr'gə-nĭz'əm)
n.
An individual form of life, such as a plant, an animal, a bacterium, a protist, or a fungus; a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life.

or'gan·is'mal (-nĭz'məl) or or'gan·is'mic (-mĭk) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
organism   (ôr'gə-nĭz'əm)  Pronunciation Key 
An individual form of life that is capable of growing, metabolizing nutrients, and usually reproducing. Organisms can be unicellular or multicellular. They are scientifically divided into five different groups (called kingdoms) that include prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals, and that are further subdivided based on common ancestry and homology of anatomic and molecular structures.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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