ectoplasm

American  

[ek-tuh-plaz-uhm] / ˈɛk təˌplæz əm /

noun

1. Biology. the outer portion of the cytoplasm of a cell.

2. Spiritualism. the supposed emanation from the body of a medium.

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ectoplasm British  

/ ˈɛktəʊˌplæzəm /

noun

1. cytology the outer layer of cytoplasm in some cells, esp protozoa, which differs from the inner cytoplasm in being a clear gel See also endoplasm

2. spiritualism the substance supposedly emanating from the body of a medium during trances

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Other Word Forms

• ectoplasmatic adjective
• ectoplasmic adjective

Etymology

Origin of ectoplasm

First recorded in 1880–85; ecto- + -plasm

Explanation

Ectoplasm is the very thin, watery outer layer of a cell. Biologists use the word ectoplasm primarily to talk about amoebas. Ectoplasm and endoplasm, or "dense inner section," are found in the tiny cells known as amoebas. An amoeba's movements are a result of the way these inner and outer layers fit together. A much less scientific meaning of ectoplasm is "visible spiritual energy." 19th- and early 20th-century spiritualists claimed that a gauzy ectoplasm formed during trance states, a visual connection between living and spirit worlds. This ectoplasm was often proven to be made of cheesecloth.

Example Sentences

The character of France is like a filmic ectoplasm of us and who we are, and it is in that world of the film of us that is artificial and natural.

From Salon • Dec. 9, 2021

There are a couple of nice jump scares, and an overarching mood of mounting dread, but this is a ghost story that’s mostly atmosphere, not ectoplasm.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2021

Though a little bit of ectoplasm would have been appreciated.”

From The New Yorker • Sep. 30, 2019

There are no whooshing camera movements, no cheap shocks, no sudden bursts of computer-generated ectoplasm.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2018

The pseudopodia are lobose, sometimes absent, the body then progressing by a flowing movement; the body consists of ectoplasm and endoplasm, the latter being granular and internal, the former hyaline and external.

From Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 21:415-468, 1901 by Calkins, Gary N. (Gary Nathan)