| Pronunciation: | | 'dIutum `tâm
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| Matching Terms: | | diatom analysis, diatomaceous earth, diatomic, diatomite, diatomophyceae, diatomous, diatoms, diatonic, diatonic scale, diatonically
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | [n] microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica |
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| | See Also: | | alga, algae, Bacillariophyceae, class Bacillariophyceae, class Diatomophyceae, Diatomophyceae |
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| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \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.
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