organism

CEFRB1

/ˈɔː.ɡə.nɪ.zəm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Any living thing, such as a plant, animal, or microbe.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Something with many separate interdependent parts, seen as being like a living thing; an organic system.

Examples

  • The organism begins as a single cell and grows by cell division.

  • Man is a complex organism.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The fact of being organic; organicity.

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

More examples

In context

  • Which organism causes malaria?

  • This strategy, known as caloric restriction, has been shown to increase the life span of various organisms and reduce their rate of cancer and other age-related ailments.

  • For the first time, Edith was aware of the hotel as a well populated organism, its attendants merely resting until an appropriate occasion should summon them to present themselves […].

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Under the microscope, the biologist observed a tiny single-celled blank moving in the water sample.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

First attested in 1701; from organ + -ism, from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “a tool, instrument”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“work”). Compare New Latin organismus.