-blastic

The combining form –blastic is used like a suffix with a variety of meanings. Especially in terms from botany, it means “having a given type or number of buds.” In other scientific terms, this meaning is applied metaphorically to mean “having a given type or number of cells or cell layers” or “undergoing a given type of development.”

The form –blastic comes from a combination of two forms. The first is –blast, from Greek ����������ó��, meaning “bud” or “sprout.” The second is the suffix –ic, from Latin –icus, meaning “having some characteristics of.” Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article for –blast.

A term from zoology that features the form –blastic is triploblastic, “having three primary germ layers, as the embryos of vertebrates.”

Triplo– means “triple,” from Greek �ٰ������ó��, while the form –blastic means “having a given number of cell layers.” Triploblastic literally translates to “having triple cell layers.”

������ are some words that use the combining form –blastic?

• diploblastic
• epiblastic
• holoblastic
• homoblastic
• monoblastic
• neuroblastic

������ are some other forms that –blastic may be commonly confused with?

• -plast
• -plastic
• -plasty

The combining form diplo– means “double” or “in pairs.” With this in mind, what does the term diploblastic mean?