Merist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The foundational region in plants where growth occurs, typically characterized by undifferentiated, actively dividing cells
2. A growth tissue in plants responsible for producing new cells and contributing to organ development
3. A type of plant tissue that remains perpetually young and capable of division to form new structures and organs

Etymology: Merist comes from Greek "meristos", meaning "divided into parts" or "divisible", itself from "merizein", "to divide", which is built on "meros", "part". The word was coined in the 19th century by botanists who wanted a name for the tissue that produces new cells, a meaning the Greek root alone does not reveal. Its English use dates to the mid-1800s, when German plant anatomists were working out how growth tissues differ from mature ones. The term sits within a family of botanical words built on the same Greek stem, such as "meristem", the more common form for the same tissue. Merist and meristem are close in meaning, and the shorter form is the older-sounding of the two in some botanical writing, though both are used today. The core idea behind all of them is simple: these cells are the plant's unfinished parts, the stock from which leaves, stems, and roots are later divided out.