n. pl.; sing. fungus. (Biol.) A group of thallophytic plant-like organisms of low organization, destitute of chlorophyll, in which reproduction is mainly accomplished by means of asexual spores, which are produced in a great variety of ways, though sexual reproduction is known to occur in certain Phycomycetes, or so-called algal fungi. They include the molds, mildews, rusts, smuts, mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, and the allies of each. In the two-kingdom classification system they were classed with the plants, but in the modern five-kingdom classification, they are not classed as plants, but are classed in their own separate kingdom fungi, which includes the phyla Zygomycota (including simple fungi such as bread molds), Ascomycota (including the yeasts), Basidiomycota (including the mushrooms, smuts, and rusts), and Deuteromycota (the fungi imperfecti). Some of the forms, such as the yeasts, appear as single-celled microorganisms, but all of the fungi are are eukaryotic, thus distinguishing them from the prokaryotic microorganisms of the kingdon Monera. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

☞ The Fungi appear to have originated by degeneration from various algæ, losing their chlorophyll on assuming a parasitic or saprophytic life. In an earlier classification they were divided into the subclasses Phycomycetes, the lower or algal fungi; the Mesomycetes, or intermediate fungi; and the Mycomycetes, or the higher fungi; by others into the Phycomycetes; the Ascomycetes, or sac-spore fungi; and the Basidiomycetes, or basidial-spore fungi. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. L. fungus mushroom: cf. F. fongie. ] (Zool.) A genus of simple, stony corals; -- so called because they are usually flat and circular, with radiating plates, like the gills of a mushroom. Some of them are eighteen inches in diameter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Fungidæ, a family of stony corals. -- n. One of the Fungidæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ LL. (res) fungibiles, probably fr. L. fungi to discharge. “A barbarous term, supposed to have originated in the use of the words functionem recipere in the Digeste.” Bouvier. “Called fungibiles, quia una alterius vice fungitur.” John Taylor (1755). Cf. Function. ] 1. (Civ. Law) Things which may be furnished or restored in kind, as distinguished from specific things; -- called also fungible things. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Scots Law) Movable goods which may be valued by weight or measure, in contradistinction from those which must be judged of individually. Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. fungus mushroom: cf. F. fungique, fongique. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, mushrooms; as, fungic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Fungi + -cide, fr. L. caedere to kill. ] Anything that kills fungi. -- Fun`gi*ci"dal n. [1913 Webster]

a. [ Eungus + -form: cf. F. fongiforme. ] Shaped like a fungus or mushroom. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fungiform papillæ (Anat.), numerous small, rounded eminences on the upper surface of the tongue. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖pl. [ L. imperfecti imperfect. ] (Bot.) A heterogenous phylum of fungi which lack a sexual phase, or of which the sexual phase is not known. Some undoubtedly represent the conidium stages of various Ascomycetes. It is not considered a natural phylum, and is also called the Deuteromycota. The group is divided into the orders Sphæropsidales, Melanconiales, and Moniliales. It includes the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus, which reproduce asexually by means of conidia. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

a. Shaped like a small fungus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. fungus mushroom: cf. F, fongine, fungine. ] (Chem.) A name formerly given to cellulose found in certain fungi and mushrooms. [ 1913 Webster ]