Ŏr'gan-ism, n.
n. [Fr. organisme, Sp. & It. organismo.]
Sense 1. A structure composed of or acting by means of organs; the mutual arrangement or dependence of organs and their functions.
Sense 2. An organized being; a being endowed with, or composed of, organs; a being consisting of parts of which the functions of each are essential to the existence of the whole, and of each of the parts; a whole, of which the parts are reciprocally means and ends; an existence, of which the parts partake of a common life; an artificial structure, consisting of parts mutually dependent.
Man is not an organism; he is an intelligence served by organs. Sir W. Hamilton.