Definition of "ectoplasm" [ec•to•plasm]

• Biology The outer portion of the continuous phase of cytoplasm of a cell, sometimes distinguishable as a somewhat rigid, gelled layer beneath the cell membrane. (noun)
• The visible substance believed to emanate from the body of a spiritualistic medium during communication with the dead. (noun)
• An immaterial or ethereal substance, especially the transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Oliver Lodge, Dr. Schrenk-Notzing, Charles Richet (who coined the word ectoplasm) plus numerous other investigators worldwide spent extensive time and money analyzing the exploits of many channellers and mediums."
• "Most engineers are right-handed, and the brain ectoplasm seeps across into the writing: we find that “experimentalists” on the one hand, and “metrical-obsessives’, on the other (hand), are almost always right-handed."
• "Eva C Carriere, a medium who had originally used her real name, Marthe Beraud, until she was exposed, claimed to be able to produce large quantities of a strange, otherworldly substance called ectoplasm, which was thought to be produced by the bioenergy of the spirits."