corpuscle
/ˈkɔːpʌs(ə)l
/noun
1 Biology A minute body or cell in an organism, especially a red or white cell in the blood of vertebrates.It is composed of: red corpuscles, white cells, platelets, and blood plasma....
- For a time, all you can see are blurred shapes swimming around on a glass slide, then suddenly everything becomes clear and you are studying a blood corpuscle or a cancerous cell.
- But the result of the treatment can affect the blood corpuscles and may even cause death.
1.1 historical A minute particle regarded as the basic constituent of matter or light: these subparticles at the centre of an antimony corpuscle are fluid and volatile...
- To explain some of his observations Newton had to argue that the corpuscles of light created waves in the aether.
- He argued that matter was composed of corpuscles which themselves were differently built up of different configurations of primary particles.
- Boyle reconciled the two aspects of his position by assuming that chemical corpuscles were composed of atoms at a deeper level.
Derivatives
corpuscular
- This complete blood count was done on an instrument which employs impedance and pulse editing technology in measuring the mean corpuscular volume.
- When the corpuscular theory of matter was developed and accepted (which could explain but not predict chemical changes in terms of transmutations), this belief was strengthened.
- High mean corpuscular volume, which is often a sign of either vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, has been found to be predictive for a risk of colorectal polyps in men.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin corpusculum 'small body', diminutive of corpus.