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Diatom - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Diatom : (noun)
1: microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga
having cell walls impregnated with silica
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Diatom : \Di"a*tom\, n. [Gr. ? cut in two. See Diatomous.]
1. (Bot.) One of the Diatomace[ae], a family of minute
unicellular Alg[ae] having a siliceous covering of great
delicacy, each individual multiplying by spontaneous
division. By some authors diatoms are called
Bacillari[ae], but this word is not in general use.
2. A particle or atom endowed with the vital principle.
The individual is nothing. He is no more than the
diatom, the bit of protoplasm. --Mrs. E. Lynn
Linton.
Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
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