Definitions for organism
ˈɔr gəˌnɪz əmor·gan·ism

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.1 / 9 votes

1. organism, beingnoun

   a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

2. organismnoun

   a system considered analogous in structure or function to a living body

   "the social organism"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. organismnoun

   A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism.

2. organismnoun

   Any complex thing with properties normally associated with living things.

3. Etymology: From ὄργανον, from werǵ-.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Organismnoun

   Organical structure.

   Etymology: from organ.

   How admirable is the natural structure or organism of bodies. Nehemiah Grew, Cosmol. b. i. c. 4.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Organism

   In biology, an organism (from Greek: ὀργανισμός, organismos) is an entity capable of carrying on life functions. All organisms are composed of cells. Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; or unicellular microorganisms such as protists, bacteria, and archaea. All types of organisms are capable of reproduction, growth and development, maintenance, and some degree of response to stimuli. Humans, squids, mushrooms, and vascular plants are examples of multicellular organisms that differentiate specialized tissues and organs during development. An organism may be either a prokaryote or a eukaryote. Prokaryotes are represented by two separate domains – bacteria and archaea. Eukaryotic organisms are characterized by the presence of a membrane-bound cell nucleus and contain additional membrane-bound compartments called organelles (such as mitochondria in animals and plants and plastids in plants and algae, all generally considered to be derived from endosymbiotic bacteria). Fungi, animals and plants are examples of kingdoms of organisms within the eukaryotes. Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 2 million to 1 trillion, of which over 1.7 million have been documented. More than 99% of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived are estimated to be extinct.In 2016, a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms was identified.

FreebaseRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Organism

   In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system. In at least some form, all types of organisms are capable of responding to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole. An organism may be either unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise many trillions of cells grouped into specialized tissues and organs. The term multicellular describes any organism made up of more than one cell. All organisms living on Earth are divided into the eukaryotes and prokaryotes based on the presence or absence of true nuclei in their cells. The prokaryotes represent two separate domains, the Bacteria and Archaea. Eukaryotic organisms are characterized by the presence of a membrane-bound cell nucleus, and contain additional membrane-bound compartmentalization called organelles. Fungi, animals and plants are examples of kingdoms of organisms that are eukaryotes. In 2002 Thomas Cavalier-Smith proposed a clade, Neomura, which groups together the Archaea and Eukarya. Neomura is thought to have evolved from Bacteria, more specifically from Actinobacteria. See Branching order of bacterial phyla.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:1.5 / 2 votes

1. Organism

   a structure instinct with life, and possessed of organs that discharge functions subordinate and ministrative to the life of the whole.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. organism

   A creation and form of life.

   Organisms are everywhere in the world.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on December 22, 2019  

Matched Categories

1. • System

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'organism' in Nouns Frequency: #2003

Anagrams for organism »

1. moringas

2. roamings

3. sinogram

4. orangism

How to pronounce organism?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say organism in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of organism in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of organism in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of organism in a Sentence

1. Mark Green:

   Irreducible complexity is important in the argument for the creationist because of this: Evolution assumes a series of minuscule changes over time, and each change has to give a survival advantage to the organism. If it doesn't, and it causes a disadvantage the organism dies and evolution ends.

2. Elizabeth Steensma:

   That strep organism, that is really common, somehow that went from his pharynx in his throat and made its way into his abdominal cavity.

3. Lucius Annaeus Seneca:

   Everything is the product of one universal creative effort. There is nothing dead in Nature. Everything is organic and living, and therefore the whole world appears to be a living organism.

4. Nicholas Hendren:

   For patients who are healthy, this organism very rarely infects people, if they are infected, most people do fine and essentially never present to the hospital. But in patients who do have liver disease, they're susceptible to much more infection.

5. Charles Ray:

   The tree The Old Apple Tree has taken on its own persona. It's a living organism, just like us, and it's been faced with a lifetime of challenges, it stood there for generations and witnessed the world change around it.

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