Lexic.us

Definition of Diatom

1. Noun. Microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica.

Definition of Diatom

1. 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 called Bacillariæ, but this word is not in general use.

Definition of Diatom

1. Noun. One of the ''Diatomaceae'', a family of minute unicellular algae having a siliceous covering of great delicacy. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Diatom

1. any of a class of algae [n -S]

Medical Definition of Diatom

1. Algae of the division Bacillariophyta. They are largely unicellular and are characterised by having cell walls of hydrated silica embedded in an organic matrix. The cell walls are formed in two halves that fit together like the lid and base of a pillbox and often have elaborate patterns formed by pores. Diatoms are very abundant in marine and freshwater plankton. Deposits of the cell walls form diatomaceous or siliceous earths. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Diatom

Literary usage of Diatom

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society by Royal Microscopical Society, London (1882)
"The slide carrying the material is first focussed, the diatom picked up, and the supplementary stage turned until the clean slide is in focus, ..."

2. The Monthly Microscopical Journal: Transactions of the Royal Microscopical (1875)
"On Dr. Schumann's Formulas for diatom-lines. By WJ HICKIE, MA, S. John's College, Cambridge. PLATE CIX. IN compliance with a general and strongly expressed ..."

3. The American Monthly Microscopical Journal by Chas. W. Smiley (1900)
"VOL, XXI, NOVEMBER, 1900, CONTENTS. NO, 1 1. On a Direct Method of Demonstrating the Muscular Function of the diatom. Cunningham-305 A Few ..."

4. The Microscopy of Drinking-water by George Chandler Whipple (1905)
"diatom Cells.—A diatom cell is constructed like a box. There is a top and a bottom, known as the upper and lower valve, on both of which markings are found. ..."

5. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and (1903)
"FORTY-FIVE years have passed since I discovered the extensive and remarkable diatom-earth beds at Monterey, California,, and now I have the satisfaction of ..."

6. The Student's Handbook of Physical Geology by Alfred John Jukes-Browne (1892)
"diatom Ooze.—The lacustrine forms of the microscopic plants called diatoms have already been mentioned (p. 239). We are now concerned with those which live ..."

7. The Student, and Intellectual Observer (1870)
"READE'S diatom PRISM. IN our last number mention was made in Mr. Slack's paper of a mode of exhibiting diatoms recently brought before the Royal ..."

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