- any of certain saclike structures in plants or animals
- such a structure or pocket in the body when abnormal and filled with fluid or diseased matter
- a spherical, usually thick membrane, resistant to freezing, drying, etc., with which certain organisms are surrounded when in a resting stage
Origin of cyst
Modern Latin cystis from Classical Greek kystis, sac, bladder from uncertain or unknown; perhaps Indo-European base an unverified form ?us-, variant, variety of an unverified form ?wes-, to wheeze, blow
