Acrasis

noun

Acra·​sis ə-ˈkrā-səs 

: a genus of cellular slime molds (the type of the family Acrasiaceae) of the order Acrasiales having amoeboid cells produced from spores and aggregated without fusion into a pseudoplasmodium and having a fruiting body, often with a sterile stalklike portion, formed by rounding up and contraction of the pseudoplasmodium

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from a- a- entry 2 + Greek krásis "mixing, combination" (alluding to the lack of cellular fusion when forming fruiting bodies)

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above

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