any of various membranous structures found in some bacterial cells, now thought to be a result of techniquesused in preparing cells for microscopy
mesosome in American English
(ˈmezəˌsoum, ˈmes-, ˈmizə-, -sə-)
noun
1.
the anterior portion of the abdomen in arachnids
2.
a whorled structure extending inward from the cell membrane in Gram-positive bacteria and containing enzymes for cellular respiration
Word origin
[1955–60; meso- + -some3]This word is first recorded in the period 1955–60. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: backgrounder, cassette, geodesic dome, life-support, software-some is a combining form meaning “body,” used in the formation of compound words. Otherwords that use the affix -some include: microsome, monosome, ribosome, schistosome, trypanosome