Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fungus
Fun′gus
,Noun.
pl. L.
Fungi
(#)
, E. Funguses
(#)
. [L., a mushroom; perh. akin to a doubtful Gr. [GREEK] sponge, for [GREEK]; if so, cf. E.
sponge
.] 1.
(Bot.)
Any one of the
Fungi
, a large and very complex group of thallophytes of low organization, – the molds, mildews, rusts, smuts, mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, and the allies of each. See fungi
. ☞ The fungi are all destitute of chorophyll, and, therefore, to be supplied with elaborated nourishment, must live as saprophytes or parasites. They range in size from single microscopic cells to systems of entangled threads many feet in extent, which develop reproductive bodies as large as a man’s head. The vegetative system consists of septate or rarely unseptate filaments called hyphæ; the aggregation of hyphæ into structures of more or less definite form is known as the mycelium. See
Fungi
, in the Supplement. 2.
(Med.)
A spongy, morbid growth or granulation in animal bodies, as the proud flesh of wounds.
Hoblyn.
Webster 1828 Edition
Fungus
FUN'GUS
,Noun.
1.
A mushroom, vulgarly called a toadstool. The Fungi constitute an order of plants of a peculiar organization and manner of growth. The word is also applied to excrescences on plants.2.
A spungy excrescence in animal bodies as proud flesh formed in wounds.The term is particularly applied to any morbid excrescence, whether in wounds or arising spontaneously.