Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Diatom
1.
(Bot.)
One of the
Diatomaceæ
, a family of minute unicellular Algæ having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, each individual multiplying by spontaneous division. By some authors diatoms are called Bacillariæ
, but this word is not in general use. 2.
A particle or atom endowed with the vital principle.
The individual is nothing. He is no more than the
diatom
, the bit of protoplasm. Mrs. E. Lynn Linton.