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organisms - 3 dictionary results
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or⋅gan⋅ism

  [awr-guh-niz-uhm]
Use organisms in a Sentence
–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.
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. 2009.
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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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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Language Translation for : organisms
Spanish: organismo,
German: der Organismus,
Japanese: 生物
More Translations »
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