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Webster 1913 Edition


Cyst

Cyst

(sĭst)
,
Noun.
[Gr.
κύστισ
bladder, bag, pouch, fr.
κύειν
to be pregnant. Cf.
Cyme
.]
1.
(Med.)
(a)
A pouch or sac without opening, usually membranous and containing morbid matter, which is accidentally developed in one of the natural cavities or in the substance of an organ.
(b)
In old authors, the urinary bladder, or the gall bladder.
[Written also
cystis
.]
2.
(Bot.)
One of the bladders or air vessels of certain algæ, as of the great kelp of the Pacific, and common rockweeds (
Fuci
) of our shores.
D. C. Eaton.
3.
(Zool.)
(a)
A small capsule or sac of the kind in which many immature entozoans exist in the tissues of living animals; also, a similar form in Rotifera, etc.
(b)
A form assumed by Protozoa in which they become saclike and quiescent. It generally precedes the production of germs. See
Encystment
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Cyst

CYST

,
Noun.
[Gr., a bladder.] A bag or tunic which includes morbid matter in animal bodies.