word-forming element denoting "something made," from Greek plastos "formed, molded," verbal adjective from plassein "to mold" (see plasma). Used to form names of small particles of living matter.
Entries linking to -plast
plasma n.
1712, "form, shape" (a sense now obsolete), a more classical form of earlier plasm; from Late Latin plasma, from Greek plasma "something molded or created," hence "image, figure; counterfeit, forgery; formed style, affectation," from plassein "to mold," originally "to spread thin," from PIE *plath-yein, from root *pele- (2) "flat; to spread."
Sense of "the liquid part of blood, etc., as distinguished from the corpuscles" is from 1845. In physics, the sense of "ionized gas" is by 1928.
chloroplast n.
1887, from German chloroplast (1884, Eduard Strasburger), shortened from chloroplastid "a chlorophyll granule" (1883, Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper); see chloro- + -plast.
*pele- 2
*pelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "flat; to spread."
It forms all or part of: airplane; dysplasia; ectoplasm; effleurage; esplanade; explain; explanation; feldspar; field; flaneur; floor; llano; palm (n.1) "flat of the hand;" palm (n.2) "tropical tree;" palmy; piano; pianoforte; plain; plan; planar; Planaria; plane (n.1) "flat surface;" plane (n.3) "tool for smoothing surfaces;" plane (v.2) "soar, glide on motionless wings;" planet; plani-; planisphere; plano-; -plasia; plasma; plasmid; plasm; -plasm; -plast; plaster; plastic; plastid; -plasty; Polack; Poland; Pole; polka; protoplasm; veldt.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek plassein "to mold," plasma "something molded or created;" Latin planus "flat, level, even, plain, clear;" Lithuanian plonas "thin;" Celtic *lanon "plain;" Old Church Slavonic polje "flat land, field," Russian polyi "open;" Old English feld, Middle Dutch veld "field."