Other forms: organisms
An organism is any single living thing. A living organism, single-celled organisms, a complex organism.
It covers everything from a bacterium to a blue whale, and defining exactly what counts is harder than it sounds — viruses sit awkwardly on the line. Micro-organism means one too small to see. Figuratively, an organism is any complex system whose parts depend on one another: the city as an organism. Note organic, which in farming means grown without synthetic chemicals and in chemistry means containing carbon.
1nounorganismAny single living thing.
“Bacteria are tiny organisms that can only be seen under a microscope.”
organism is a living thing.
The word is built from organ plus -ism, from Greek organon, an instrument or tool. An organism is a thing made of working parts, which is exactly the definition.
Proto-Indo-European
*werǵ- — work
English, today
organism
From organ + -ism. 1701; from organ + -ism, from ὄργανον, from Proto-Indo-European werǵ- (“work”). Compare New Latin organismus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA