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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[L.

protoplastus

the first man, Gr. [GREEK] formed or created first; [GREEK] first + [GREEK] formed, fr. [GREEK] to form.]

The thing first formed; that of which there are subsequent copies or reproductions; the original.

(Biol.)

A first-formed organized body; the first individual, or pair of individuals, of a species.

A species is a class of individuals, each of which is hypothetically considered to be the descendant of the same

protoplast

, or of the same pair of

protoplasts

Latham.

Noun.

[Gr. first and formed.] The original; the thing first formed, as a copy to be imitated. Thus Adam has been called our protoplast.