plasma English · revision 15178

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1712|origins=grc πλάσσω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈplæz.mə/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|plasma|t=a mould, image]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|πλάσμα|tr=plásma|t=something moulded or created]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|grc|πλάσσω|tr=plássō|t=to mould, shape]] (see [[plaster]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) originally “to spread thin”, from [[ine-pro|*pele-|t=flat, to spread]].^(Etymonline) It is a more classical form of earlier [[plasm]], a mould (1620).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster takes the modern word through German.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Form, mould, shape, a sense now obsolete: 1712;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Merriam-Webster gives a first use of 1577.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Greek word also meant an image, a counterfeit and an affected style.^(Etymonline) A green variety of quartz was called plasma from 1772.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) The liquid part of blood or lymph, apparently seen as the matter from which blood is formed, is first recorded in 1845,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the physics sense, an ionized gas with a balance of positive ions and electrons, in 1928.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Compounds such as ''plasma arc'' are from 1958.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1577 – plasma.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1712 – form, shape.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1772 – a green quartz.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1845 – the liquid part of blood.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1928 – ionized gas (physics).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1958 – plasma arc.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The clear, yellowish fluid part of [[blood]] or [[lymph]], in which the cells are suspended.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Sterilized blood plasma, used in [[transfusion|alt=transfusions]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(physics)'' A hot [[ionize|alt=ionized]] gas of nuclei and electrons, sometimes regarded as a fourth state of matter.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # A former name for [[protoplasm]] or [[cytoplasm]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A green, partly translucent variety of [[quartz]].^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[plasmatic]]

+ * [[mycoplasma]]

+ * [[phytoplasma]]

+ * [[plasmablast]]

+ * [[plasmacyte]]

+ * [[plasmalemma]]

+ * [[plasmapause]]

+ * [[plasmasphere]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[plasm]]

+ * [[plaster]]

+ * [[plastic]]

+ * [[-plasm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}