Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A differentiated structure within a cell, such as a mitochondrion, vacuole, or chloroplast, that performs a specific function.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Biol.) a specialized part of a cell performing a specific function, usually visible under the microscope as a distinct object; it is analogous to an organ{2}, but on a microscopic scale.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun cytology A specialized structure found inside
cells that carries out a specific life process (e.g. ribosomes, vacuoles).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a specialized part of a cell; analogous to an organ
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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This organelle is called the flagellum, made of a rotary motor and a thin helical filament that grows up to about 15 micron.
A self-assembling nanomachine with fine switching capability 2005
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You would conjecture that some organelle is designed, say.
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Let me say here only that this organelle is exquisitely sensitive to light, to gravity, to stretch, and to a stimulus which we believe to be olfactory, and illustrate it with a few slides.
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Carsonella might one day lose its identity altogether and become a permanent organ, or "organelle," inside the insect’s cell, the researcher speculate.
Discovery of World’s Smallest Genome of Living Creatures | Impact Lab 2006
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* The first artificial cell organelle may help researchers find a way to make bioengineered heparin and other synthetic drugs.
Thor's Day yendi 2009
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Here's a test with a science twist: which cell organelle are you?
Humour Maxine 2009
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Inside, the stunned viewers could see every organelle of the original amoeba, perfectly recreated.
Delta Anomaly Rick Barba 2010
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Inside, the stunned viewers could see every organelle of the original amoeba, perfectly recreated.
Delta Anomaly Rick Barba 2010
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The flagellum is IC as a motility organelle, if you remove one part, the machine doesn't work.
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Inside, the stunned viewers could see every organelle of the original amoeba, perfectly recreated.
Delta Anomaly Rick Barba 2010
chained_bear commented on the word organelle
"A third theory argues that viruses were once part of a cell, an organelle, but broke away and began to evolve independently."
—John M. Barry, The Great Influenza (NY: Penguin Books, 2004), 99
February 11, 2009