- protoplasm
- 1848, from Ger. Protoplasma (1846), used by Ger. botanist Hugo von Mohl (1805-72), from Gk. proto- "first" + plasma "something molded" (see plasma). The word was in L.L., meaning "first created thing," and may have existed in ecclesiastical Gk. in a different sense. It was used 1839 by Czech physiologist Johannes Evangelista Purkinje (1787-1869) to denote the gelatinous fluid found in living tissue. This word prevailed, though Ger. language purists preferred Urschleim "original mucus."