Phrase guide

cell wall

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /sɛl wɔːl/
  • US: /sɛl wɔːl/
  • US: /sɛl wɑːl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A rigid, non-living structural layer located outside the cell membrane in certain cells, such as those of plants, fungi, bacteria, and some algae, providing support, shape, and protection.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, cytology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a rigid layer of polysaccharides enclosing the membrane of plant and prokaryotic cells; maintains the shape of the cell and serves as a protective barrier

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: layer

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: selwand — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Breton: pale gellig — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Catalan: paret cel·lular — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 細胞壁 /细胞壁 (xìbāobì) — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Czech: buněčná stěna — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Danish: cellevæg — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Dutch: celwand — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Finnish: soluseinä — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • French: paroi cellulaire — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Galician: parede celular — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • German: Zellwand — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Greek: κυτταρικό τοίχωμα (kyttarikó toíchoma) — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Hungarian: sejtfal — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Icelandic: frumuveggur — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Italian: parete cellulare — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Korean: 세포벽 (sepobyeok) — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Northern Kurdish: dîwarê xaneyê — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Māori: pātū pūtau — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Norwegian Bokmål: cellevegg — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: cellevegg — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Polish: ściana komórkowa — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Portuguese: parede celular — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Russian: кле́точная сте́нка (klétočnaja sténka) — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Slovak: bunková stena — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Spanish: pared celular — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Swedish: cellvägg — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Tagalog: dinding ng sihay — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Turkish: hücre duvarı — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Turkish: hücre çeperi — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Vietnamese: vách tế bào — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Vietnamese: thành tế bào — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Welsh: cellfur — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae
  • Welsh: pared cell — thick layer around cells of plants, fungi, and algae