MEANING
1. A supposed substance said by spiritualists to emerge from a medium and make spirits physically perceptible.
2. In cell biology, the outer, typically clearer region of cytoplasm.
Use it for
A spirit acquiring visible substance; a medium's claimed manifestation; the boundary between body and apparitionUse a historically established term for materialized haunting, with its disputed status clear.
Words that belong together
- ectoplasm materializes
- ectoplasmic manifestation
- a strand of ectoplasm
On the page
A ribbon of ectoplasm seemed to emerge from the medium's mouth.
The investigators found gauze where the ectoplasm had supposedly formed.
In the story, ectoplasm retained the shape of the dead woman's hand.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- ectoplasm
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Spiritualist claim, not an established substance; the separate biological sense refers to outer cell cytoplasm. Define the fictional rules rather than implying scientific proof. Usually uncountable in this sense; no routine plural. Derived/related family (not inflections): ectoplasmic (adjective).
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