‖ Protista, n. pl. Biol.
(prəʊˈtɪstə)
[mod.L. (= Ger. Protisten, Haeckel 1868), a. Gr. πρώτιστα, neut. pl. of πρώτιστ-ος the very first, superl. of πρῶτος first.]
A third kingdom of organized beings, proposed by Haeckel to include those of the simplest structure, not definitely distinguished as either animals or plants (thus comprising the Protozoa and Protophyta, with those forms indeterminately assigned to either group); corresponding to the Primalia of Wilson and Cassin (see primal 5).
| 1878 Bell Gegenbaur's Comp. Anat. 75 The plan of uniting all the lower organisms which cannot be regarded as Animals or Plants into the Kingdom of the Protista. 1908 M. Hartog in Contemp. Rev. Apr. 486 The physiology of the Protista (organisms which have the character of isolated cells). |
Also protist (ˈprəʊtɪst), an organism of the group Protista, a protozoon or protophyte [f. mod.L. Protista, f. G. protisten (E. Haeckel Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (1866) I. 203): see Protista n. pl. above]; also attrib. = protistan; proˈtistan a., of or belonging to the Protista; n. = protist; proˈtistic a., of the Protista.
| 1869 Huxley Crit. & Addr. xii. (1873) 314 Some of the Monera acquired tendencies towards the Protistic, others towards the Vegetal, and others towards the Animal modes of life. 1877 F. Bateman Darwinism 33 The second group of the Protistic Kingdom—the Amœboida or Protoplasta. 1889 Geddes & Thomson Evol. Sex x. 129 In [Volvox], which is best regarded as a multicellular protist. Ibid. xi. 152 Loose protist colonies like Volvox or Ampullina. 1897 Nat. Science Oct. 234 The modes of reproduction among Protists are many and various. 1905 J. McCabe tr. Haeckel's Evol. Man I. vi. 98 In the case of the protists, the entire organism usually consists of a single autonomous cell throughout life. 1908 M. Hartog in Contemp. Rev. Apr. 489 The Protistic parent that loses its individuality in its offspring when it divides. 1926 C. M. Wenyon Protozool. I. i. 4 A typical Protist consists of a small portion of cytoplasm and a nucleus. 1940 [see metachronal a.]. 1965 B. E. Freeman tr. Vandel's Biospeleol. vi. 62 Not a single free-living aquatic protist can be considered as a true cavernicole. 1975 Nature 7 Aug. 467/2 These [phytoflagellates] were the ancestors of all plants, and..of non-photosynthetic protists and animals. |