Plās'tĭc, a.
a. [Fr. plastique, It. & Sp. plastico, Lat. plasticus, Gr. πλαστικός, from πλάσσειν, to form, mold.]
Sense 1. Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of matter; as, the plastic hand of the Creator; the plastic virtue of nature.
See plastic Nature working to this end. Pope.
Sense 2. Capable of being molded, formed, or modeled; as, plastic material.
Sense 3. Pertaining or appropriate to, or characteristic of, molding or modeling; Produced by, or appearing as if produced by, molding or modeling;—said of sculpture and the kindred arts, in distinction from painting and the graphic arts. “Medallions . . . fraught with the plastic beauty and grace of the palmy days of Italian art.” J. S. Harford.
He [Michael Angelo] may have considered the coloring as a subordinate part of the art, for his taste was pre-eminently plastic, and he accordingly confined painting, to some extent, within the sphere of sculpture. . . . The roundness and plastic character of the subjects in the paintings of this artist seem to be unsurpassable. J. S. Harford.
Plastic clay, one of the beds of the eocene period;—so called because used in making pottery. Lyell.—Plastic force (Med.), the generative or formative power in organized bodies. Dunglison.