protoplasm

/ˌproʊdəˈplæzəm/

Other forms: protoplasms

Protoplasm is the gooey stuff that living cells are made of. A cell's protoplasm is colorless and surrounded by a plasma membrane. Sometimes people use protoplasm to mean “formless blob of life.”

There are many elements that make up the protoplasm of a cell, including the nucleus, amino acids, lipids, and ions. Scientists generally use the word protoplasm to mean the cytoplasm plus the nucleus. It was coined in the 1840s by a German scientist, from the Greek roots proto, "first," and plasma, "something molded or formed."

Definitions of protoplasm

1. noun

   the substance of a living cell (including cytoplasm and nucleus)
   synonyms: living substance

   types:

   cytol, cytoplasm

   the protoplasm of a cell excluding the nucleus; is full of proteins that control cell metabolism

   karyoplasm, nucleoplasm

   the protoplasm that constitutes the nucleus of a cell

   germ plasm, plasm

   the protoplasm of the germ cells that contains chromosomes and genes

   blood platelet, platelet, thrombocyte

   tiny bits of protoplasm found in vertebrate blood; essential for blood clotting

   plasmodium

   multinucleate sheet of cytoplasm characteristic of some stages of such organisms as slime molds

   cytoplast

   the intact cytoplasmic content of a cell

   cytosol

   the aqueous part of the cytoplasm within which various particles and organelles are suspended

   ectoplasm

   the outer granule-free layer of cytoplasm

   endoplasm

   the inner portion of the cytoplasm of a cell

   ground substance, hyaloplasm

   the clear nongranular portion of the cytoplasm of a cell

   central body, centrosome

   small region of cytoplasm adjacent to the nucleus; contains the centrioles and serves to organize the microtubules

   sarcoplasm

   the cytoplasm of a striated muscle fiber

   syncytium

   a mass of cytoplasm containing several nuclei and enclosed in a membrane but no internal cell boundaries (as in muscle fibers)

   type of:

   substance

   the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists