ˈmerəˌstem noun
( -s )
Etymology: Greek meristos divided, divisible (from merizein to divide) + English -em (as in system )
: a formative plant tissue made up typically of small essentially isodiametric cells lacking prominent vacuoles and capable of an indefinite number of divisions and giving rise to initiating cells that remain meristematic and to derivatives that undergo differentiation to produce the various tissues and organs of the plant, all postembryonic growth depending ultimately on the proliferation of meristematic cells — compare cambium