Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various microscopic one-celled or colonial algae of the class Bacillariophyceae, having cell walls of silica consisting of two interlocking symmetrical valves.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A member of the Diatomaceæ;
Wiktionary
- n. One of the Diatomaceae, a family of minute unicellular algae having a siliceous covering of great delicacy.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One of the
Diatomaceæ , a family of minute unicellular Algæ having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, each individual multiplying by spontaneous division. By some authors diatoms are calledBacillariæ , but this word is not in general use. - n. A particle or atom endowed with the vital principle.
WordNet 3.0
- n. microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica
Etymologies
- New Latin diatoma, from Greek diatomos, cut in half, from diatemnein, to cut in half : dia-, dia- + temnein, to cut; see tem- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The name diatom comes from a Greek word diatomos that means cut in half, because the shells of diatoms have two overlapping, symmetrical halves.”
“I'm not exactly sure what Visuals by diatom is all about, but yet I like all the different colours and the funky graphic work they perform there.”
“Domoic acid is produced by the diatom Nitzschia pungens and has been isolated in shellfish from Prince Edward Island, Canada. 10 This toxin is responsible for amnestic shellfish poisoning (ASP) in humans causing symptoms of gastroenteritis and neurotoxicity.”
“Marine diatom cells (Rhizosolenia setigera), a group of phytoplankton”
“Marine diatom cells (Pleurosigma), a group of phytoplankton”
“In the European Arctic, combined evidence from oxygen isotope and pollen-inferred precipitation records, cladoceran-inferred lake levels, diatom-inferred lake-water ionic strength, and elemental flux records of erosion intensity into lakes, all suggest more oceanic conditions in the region during the early part of the Holocene than today, with a shift towards drier conditions between approximately 6,000 and 4,500 years BP [34].”
“Recent studies [76] show no change in water quality over time but do show a subtle shift in diatom assemblages as evidenced in the paleolimnological record.”
“Trends in chemical parameters such as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and total nitrogen can also be reconstructed from fossil diatom assemblages as demonstrated for lakes in the treeline region of the central Canadian Arctic [17], Fennoscandia [18], and elsewhere.”
“Development and evaluation of a diatom-conductivity model from lakes in West Greenland.”
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