Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A multinucleated mass of cytoplasm that is not separated into individual cells.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A multinucleate cell; a cell-aggregate; a single cell with two or more nuclei, resulting from the division of an originally single nucleus in the course of the growth of the cell, unaccompanied by any division of the cell-substance proper, or from the concrescence of a number of cells the protoplasm of which runs together, but the respective nuclei of which do not coalesce. The word has somewhat varied application to certain embryonic formations and to some adult tissues, as striped muscular fiber, certain parts of sponges, etc.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Biol.) Tissue in which the cell or partition walls are wholly wanting and the cell bodies fused together, so that the tissue consists of a continuous mass of protoplasm in which nuclei are imbedded, as in ordinary striped muscle.
- n. (Zoöl.) The ectoderm of a sponge.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a mass of cytoplasm containing several nuclei and enclosed in a membrane but no internal cell boundaries (as in muscle fibers)
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek σύν (sun, "with") + κύτος (kutos, "vessel, cell") (Wiktionary)
- New Latin : syn- + cyt(o)- + -ium. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The cells of the trophoblast become differentiated into two strata: an outer, termed the syncytium or syncytiotrophoblast, so named because it consists of a layer of protoplasm studded with nuclei, but showing no evidence of subdivision into cells; and an inner layer, the cytotrophoblast or layer of Langhans, in which the cell outlines are defined.”
“The fibers are made up of distinct quadrangular cells, joined end to end so as to form a syncytium (Fig. 499).”
“Within these solid plexuses and also within the isolated masses of angioblasts vacuoles appear through liquefaction of the central part of the syncytium into plasma.”
“In some organs, e. g., the glomeruli of the kidneys, intercellular cement cannot be demonstrated in the capillary wall and the cells are believed to form a syncytium.”
“The spongioblasts are at first connected to one another by filaments of the syncytium; in these, fibrils are developed, so that as the neuroglial cells become defined they exhibit their characteristic mature appearance with multiple processes proceeding from each cell.”
“This syncytium consists at first of dense protoplasm with closely packed nuclei, but later it opens out and forms a looser meshwork with the cellular strands arranged in a radiating manner from the central canal.”
“The cells which constitute the wall of the tube proliferate rapidly, lose their cell-boundaries and form a syncytium.”
“The muscle cells act as a syncytium, in which spontaneous depolarising pacemaker potentials occur.”
“The F protein mediates viral penetration and syncytium formation.”
“(A) Maximal projection of a Texas Red-labelled astrocyte syncytium after patching a single astrocyte with a Texas Red-containing pipette in an EC slice.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘syncytium’.
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• De rerum natura
What is this list about?
Interesting words in nature and natural science (in any language!).
What kind of words am I supposed to add?
You can add species names that you lov...lagerstätte, parthenogenesis, bushbaby, lepidoptera, dinoflagellate, pupation, chrysalis, ephemeroptera, deinococcus radio..., homoplasy, sciophilous, syncytium and 218 more...
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Not in the Periodic Table
Words that sound like they might be the names of elements of the periodic table, but that aren't. Many of the words listed here were actually proposed as names for substances their creators thought...
tentorium, columbarium, nasturtium, deuterium, caladium, valerian, concordium, synangium, chorium, geranium, hymenium, pyrenium and 310 more...
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The Latin Doctor is Greek to me
Biology Students, Gladiators, Devil Dogs & Harry Potter
et tu, semper fidelis, carpe diem, cui bono, pons asinorum, limbus, e pluribus unum, sine qua non, quidnunc, lacus oblivionis, quincunx, experimentum crucis and 128 more...
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February 2011
mirepoix, rubylith, torogoz, cecum, icterus, leptospirosis, antigenic, syncytium, electrophoresis, perivascular, glial, parenchyma and 9 more...
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