organism

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From organ +‎ -ism, from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, tool, instrument), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (work). Compare Medieval Latin organismus.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: ôr′gə-nĭz'əm
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɔː.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/
    • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

organism (plural organisms)

  1. (obsolete, rare) The fact of being organic; organicity. [18th–19th c.]
  2. Something with many separate interdependent parts, seen as being like a living thing; an organic system. [from 18th c.]
    • 1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 52:
      For the first time, Edith was aware of the hotel as a well populated organism, its attendants merely resting until an appropriate occasion should summon them to present themselves [] .
  3. (biology) A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism. [from 19th c.]
    • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French organisme.

Noun

organism n (plural organisme)

  1. organism

Declension

Swedish

Noun

organism c

  1. (biology) an organism
  2. (figuratively) an organism (something with many separate interdependent parts)

Declension

Declension of organism 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative organism organismen organismer organismerna
Genitive organisms organismens organismers organismernas

Derived terms

References