protistan

pro·tist  (prtst)

n.

1. Any of a group of eukaryotic organisms belonging to the kingdom Protista according to some widely used modern taxonomic systems. The protists include a variety of unicellular, coenocytic, colonial, and multicellular organisms, such as the protozoans, slime molds, brown algae, and red algae.

2. A unicellular protoctist in taxonomic systems in which the protoctists are considered to form a kingdom.

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[From New Latin Prtista, former kingdom name, from Greek prtista, neuter pl. of prtistos, the very first, superlative of prtos, first; see per¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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pro·tistan (-tstn) adj. & n.

protis·tolo·gy (prt-stl-j) n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

protistan - free-living or colonial organisms with diverse nutritional and reproductive modes protist micro-organism, microorganism - any organism of microscopic size division Protista, Protista - eukaryotic one-celled living organisms distinct from multicellular plants and animals: protozoa, slime molds, and eukaryotic algae