'Diatom' definitions:
Definition of 'diatom'
(from WordNet)
noun
Microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica
Definition of 'Diatom'
From: GCIDE
- Diatom \Di"a*tom\ (d[imac]`[.a]*t[o^]m), n. [Gr. dia`tomos 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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A particle or atom endowed with the vital principle. [1913 Webster]
- The individual is nothing. He is no more than the diatom, the bit of protoplasm. --Mrs. E. Lynn Linton. [1913 Webster]