Cellular theory

Cellular Cel"lu*lar (s[e^]l"[u^]*l[~e]r; 135), a. [L. cellula a little cell: cf. F. cellulaire. See {Cellule}.] 1. Consisting of, or containing, cells; of or pertaining to a cell or cells. [1913 Webster]

2. porous; containing cavities. [PJC]

3. pertaining to or using a system of transmission of telephone signals by radio, in which areas are divided into geographical parts (cells), each of which is served by a transmitter whose range is limited to that region, thus permitting a single transmission frequency to be used simulataneously in different parts of the same area. Cellular telephones are typically small and battery powered, allowing a subscriber with such a telephone to carry the telephone in a pocket or purse, over the entire area served, and to be contacted by a single telephone number. The system became widespread and popular in the 1980's and 1990's; as, cellular telephones sometimes lose their link unpredictably. [PJC]

{Cellular plants}, {Cellular cryptogams} (Bot.), those flowerless plants which have no ducts or fiber in their tissue, as mosses, fungi, lichens, and alg[ae].

{Cellular theory}, or {Cell theory} (Biol.), a theory, according to which the essential element of every tissue, either vegetable or animal, is a cell; the whole series of cells having been formed from the development of the germ cell and by differentiation converted into tissues and organs which, both in plants and animals, are to be considered as a mass of minute cells communicating with each other.

{Cellular tissue}. (a) (Anat.) See {conjunctive tissue} under {Conjunctive}. (b) (Bot.) Tissue composed entirely of parenchyma, and having no woody fiber or ducts. [1913 Webster]