What is "syncytium"

Syncytium \Syn*cy"ti*um\, n.; pl. Syncitia. [NL., from Gr. ? together + ? a hollow vessel.]

1. (Biol.) Tissue in which the cell or partition walls are wholly wanting and the cell bodies fused together, so that the tissue consists of a continuous mass of protoplasm in which nuclei are imbedded, as in ordinary striped muscle.

2. (Zo["o]l.) The ectoderm of a sponge.

alt. (context biology English) A mass of cytoplasm containing many nucleus. n. (context biology English) A mass of cytoplasm containing many nucleus.

1. n. a mass of cytoplasm containing several nuclei and enclosed in a membrane but no internal cell boundaries (as in muscle fibers)

2. [also: syncytia (pl)]

A syncytium or symplasm (; plural syncytia; from Greek: σύν (syn) = "together" + κύτος (kytos) = "box, i.e. cell") is a multinucleated cell that can result from multiple cell fusions of uninuclear cells (i.e., cells with a single nucleus), in contrast to a coenocyte, which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without accompanying cytokinesis. The term may also refer to cells interconnected by specialized membrane with gap junctions, as seen in the heart muscle cells and certain smooth muscle cells, which are synchronized electrically in an action potential.

Another (correct and well-established) use of the word syncytium is found in animal embryology to refer to the coenocytic blastoderm embryos of invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster.