Standard Lemma guide

cytoplasm

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: /ˈsaɪtəʊˌplæzəm/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈsaɪtoʊˌplæzəm/
  • Canada, General-American: [ˈsaɪɾoʊˌplæzəm]
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˈsɑetəʉˌplæzəm/
  • Australian: [ˈsɑeɾəʉˌplæzəm]
  • CMU ARPABET: S AY1 T AH0 P L AE2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The contents of a cell except for the nucleus. It includes cytosol, organelles, vesicles, and the cytoskeleton.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

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

the protoplasm of a cell excluding the nucleus; is full of proteins that control cell metabolism

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cytol

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: protoplasm, living substance

Narrower terms: plasmodium, cytoplast, cytosol, ectoplasm, endoplasm, hyaloplasm, ground substance, centrosome, central body, sarcoplasm, syncytium

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Zytoplasma, Cytoplasma. Equivalent to cyto- (“cell”) + -plasm (“contents of a cell”).

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: цитопла́зма (citoplázma) — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Catalan: citoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 細胞質 /细胞质 (xìbāozhì) — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Czech: cytoplazma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Dutch: cytoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • East Frisian Low German: tsüütooplasmó — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Esperanto: citoplasmo — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Esperanto: ĉelplasmo — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Finnish: solulima — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Finnish: sytoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • French: cytoplasme — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Galician: citoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • German: Zytoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Greek: κυτταρόπλασμα (kyttaróplasma) — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Hungarian: citoplazma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Icelandic: umfrymi — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Ido: citoplasmo — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Indonesian: sitoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Italian: citoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Japanese: 細胞質 (saibōshitsu) — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Korean: 세포질 (sepojil) — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Māori: waitepe — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Occitan: citoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Polish: cytoplazma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Portuguese: citoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Romanian: citoplasmă — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Russian: цитопла́зма (citoplázma) — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Serbo-Croatian: citoplàzma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Serbo-Croatian: цитоплазма — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Spanish: citoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Swedish: cytoplasma — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
  • Tagalog: silidkaphay — contents of a cell excluding the nucleus
Real reading context

cytoplasm in complete knowledge articles