metaplasm: Meaning and Definition of

met•a•plasm

Pronunciation: (met'u-plaz"um), [key]
— n.
  1. the nonliving matter or inclusions, as starch or pigments, within a cell.
    1. a change in the structure of a word or sentence made by adding, removing, or transposing the sounds or words of which it is composed or the letters that represent them.
    2. the formation of oblique cases from a stem other than that of the nominative.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.