Alloplasm

/ˈæloʊplæzəm/ noun

Definition

Living material or protoplasm from a different individual or organism, used in older biological terminology.

Etymology

From Greek 'allo-' (other, different) and 'plasma' (living substance), literally 'other-living-stuff'; used in early biology before modern cell biology clarified organism boundaries.

Kelly Says

Alloplasm is an old word from when biologists weren't quite sure where one organism ended and another began—it's largely obsolete but shows how biological terminology evolved as microscopy got better.

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