vacuole
/ˈvækjʊˌəʊl/ noun
Forms vacuoles
- noun (cytology) A large membrane-bound vesicle in a cell's cytoplasm.
- noun A small empty or air-filled space or vacuity.
Etymology
From French vacuole, from Medieval Latin vacuola, formed as a diminutive of Latin vacuus (“empty”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small air cell, or globular space, in the interior of organic cells, either containing air, or a pellucid watery liquid, or some special chemical secretions of the cell protoplasm. Contractile vacuole. (Zoöl.) See under Contractile, and see Illusts. of Infusoria, and Lobosa.
Etymology [L. vacuus empty: cf. F. vacuole.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vacuole”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details