noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A plant, usually a pteridophyte, in gametophyte stage in the metagenesis cycle.
2. 2
   The young gametophyte of a liverwort or peat moss.

Synonyms

All synonyms

prothallusprothallus

Etymology

From Latin pro (“forwards”) + Ancient Greek θᾰλλός (thăllós, “young branch, twig”).

Related phrases

peat moss

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.