cell

the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; cells may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals

• blastomere — any cell resulting from cleavage of a fertilized egg
• flagellated cell — any cell or one-celled organism equipped with a flagellum
• Kupffer's cell — specialized cells in the liver that destroy bacteria and foreign proteins and worn-out blood cells
• somatic cell — any of the cells of a plant or animal except the reproductive cells
• blastema — a mass of undifferentiated cells from with an organ or body part develops
• zygote, fertilized ovum — the cell resulting from the union of an ovum and a spermatozoon (including the organism that develops from that cell)
• embryonic cell, formative cell — a cell of an embryo
• akaryocyte, akaryote, acaryote — a cell without a nucleus (as an erythrocyte)
• reproductive cell, germ cell, sex cell — a spermatozoon or an ovum
• gametocyte — an immature animal or plant cell that develops into a gamete by meiosis
• polar body — a small cell containing little cytoplasm that is produced along with the oocyte and later discarded
• Leydig cell, Leydig's cell — a cell in the testes that secretes the hormone testosterone
• Sertoli cell, Sertoli's cell — elongated cells found in the seminiferous tubules of the testis; apparently they nourish the spermatids
• archespore, archesporium — primitive cell or group of cells from which a mother cell develops
• mother cell — cell from which another cell of an organism (usually of a different sort) develops
• arthrospore — one of a string of thick walled vegetative resting cells formed by some algae and fungi
• arthrospore — a body that resembles a spore but is not an endospore; produced by some bacteria

• living thing, animate thing — a living (or once living) entity

• cell wall, cell membrane, plasma membrane — a thin membrane around the cytoplasm of a cell; controls passage of substances in and out of the cell
• energid, protoplast — a biological unit consisting of a nucleus and the body of cytoplasm with which it interacts
• cytoplasm — the protoplasm of a cell excluding the nucleus
• nucleus, cell nucleus, karyon — a part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction
• organelle, cell organ — a specialized part of a cell; analogous to an organ
• vacuole — a tiny cavity filled with fluid in the cytoplasm of a cell

• organism, being — a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently