Cell \Cell\, n. [OF. celle, fr. L. cella; akin to celare to
hide, and E. hell, helm, conceal. Cf. {Hall}.]
1. A very small and close apartment, as in a prison or in a
monastery or convent; the hut of a hermit.
[1913 Webster]
The heroic confessor in his cell. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. A small religious house attached to a monastery or
convent. "Cells or dependent priories." --Milman.
[1913 Webster]
3. Any small cavity, or hollow place.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Arch.)
(a) The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof.
(b) Same as {Cella}.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Elec.) A jar of vessel, or a division of a compound
vessel, for holding the exciting fluid of a battery.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Biol.) One of the minute elementary structures, of which
the greater part of the various tissues and organs of
animals and plants are composed.
[1913 Webster]
Note: All cells have their origin in the primary cell from
which the organism was developed. In the lowest animal
and vegetable forms, one single cell constitutes the
complete individual, such being called unicelluter
orgamisms. A typical cell is composed of a semifluid
mass of protoplasm, more or less granular, generally
containing in its center a nucleus which in turn
frequently contains one or more nucleoli, the whole
being surrounded by a thin membrane, the cell wall. In
some cells, as in those of blood, in the am[oe]ba, and
in embryonic cells (both vegetable and animal), there
is no restricting cell wall, while in some of the
unicelluliar organisms the nucleus is wholly wanting.
See Illust. of {Bipolar}.
[1913 Webster]
{Air cell}. See {Air cell}.
{Cell development} (called also {cell genesis}, {cell formation}, and {cytogenesis}), the multiplication, of
cells by a process of reproduction under the following
common forms; segmentation or fission, gemmation or
budding, karyokinesis, and endogenous multiplication. See
{Segmentation}, {Gemmation}, etc.
{Cell theory}. (Biol.) See {Cellular theory}, under
{Cellular}.
[1913 Webster]
|
