Syncytium vs. Coenocyte — What's the Difference?

A syncytium or symplasm (; plural syncytia; from Greek: σύν syn "together" and κύτος kytos "box, i.e. cell") is a multinucleate cell which can result from multiple cell fusions of uninuclear cells (i.e., cells with a single nucleus), in contrast to a coenocyte, which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without accompanying cytokinesis.

A coenocyte (English: ) is a multinucleate cell which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without their accompanying cytokinesis, in contrast to a syncytium, which results from cellular aggregation followed by dissolution of the cell membranes inside the mass. The word syncytium in animal embryology is used to refer to the coenocytic blastoderm of invertebrates.

A multinucleated mass of cytoplasm that is not separated into individual cells.

A multinucleate cytoplasmic mass enclosed by a single cell wall, as in certain slime molds, fungi, and algae.

(biology) A mass of cytoplasm containing many nuclei; a multinucleate cell resulting from cell fusions of mononuclear cells (for example, the cells that make up animal skeletal muscle).

A cell with multiple nuclei, found in fungi, algae, protists and slime molds.

Tissue in which the cell or partition walls are wholly wanting and the cell bodies fused together, so that the tissue consists of a continuous mass of protoplasm in which nuclei are imbedded, as in ordinary striped muscle.

The ectoderm of a sponge.

A mass of cytoplasm containing several nuclei and enclosed in a membrane but no internal cell boundaries (as in muscle fibers)