For example whether an organism is unicellular or multicellular would be its _.
There is a word 'cellularity', though I don't think that is quite the word I am looking for.
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If you needed a term for that property, in a context where the audience was familiar with both concepts, cellularity would work. But it's not a crucial characteristic; unicels are not monophyletic, except in the possible sense that all life is monophyletic.– John LawlerCommented May 27, 2013 at 14:44
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Isn't it cluster?– EnderCommented May 27, 2013 at 14:46
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classification?– user15851Commented May 27, 2013 at 15:38
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Cellular arity? Google gives me no hits, which is why this isn't an answer, but I like it as a phrase anyway.– Kaz DragonCommented May 28, 2013 at 11:50
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The chapter in my high school science textbook was titled Cell Structure.– AutoresponderCommented May 28, 2013 at 17:03
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2 Answers
As a sometime cell biologist, I offer that whether an organism is unicellular or multi-cellular is dependent upon its structure. I apologize if this feels overly simple, and there are other words that would suffice; however, it is certainly accurate to state that:
a single-celled organism is and has but one cell, in and around which all the activities of a living thing occur: metabolism, respiration and reproduction being the generally accepted definitions of life
a multi-cellular organism (that is not a colony of single-celled creatures but, rather, one living entity) has a body (structure) consisting of more than one cell, and these cells -- as a whole -- define the organism... and are all (generally) required for all life functions of the organism to take place.
Respectfully, Dr. Jonas Moses
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Thank you, I suspected that it would be something as simple as that Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 17:45
"Cell morphology" describes how it literally looks.
