plastide

1 definition found

plastide - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Plastid \Plas"tid\, Plastide \Plas"tide\, n. [Gr. ?, ?, a
     creator.]
     1. (Biol.) A formative particle of albuminous matter; a
        monad; a cytode. See the Note under Morphon. [Archaic]
        --Haeckel.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Bot.) any of several types of minute granules found in
        the protoplasm of vegetable cells, having their own
        membrane, robosomes, and DNA. Among plant cells the most
        common are chloroplasts, which contain the chlorophyll
        and the photosynthetic machinery of the cell. They are
        divided by their colors into three classes,
        chloroplastids, chromoplastids, and leucoplastids.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]