Biol. [mod. f. (by Schleiden) CYTO- + -BLAST germ. F. cytoblaste.] The protoplasmic nucleus of a cell, regarded as the germinal spot from which its development proceeds.
A term introduced by Schleiden (a 1840) on the hypothesis that it was the germ from which the cell springs.
1842. Baly, trans. Müller’s Physiol., I. 47. In some cases the cytoblasts seem to be permanent.
1870. Bentley, Bot., 26. Almost all young cells contain one or more bodies called Nuclei or Cytoblasts.
