ecto-, ect-

1. An individual having a lean, slightly muscular body shape in which tissues derived from the embryonic ectoderm predominate.
2. A person with a thin non-muscular body.
3. Someone who belongs to a physiological type that has long lean limbs.
4. A constitutional body type or build (biotype or somatotype) in which tissues originating from the ectoderm predominate; from a morphological standpoint, the limbs predominate over the trunk.

Usually ectomorphs have lean bodies with slight or minimal muscle development. Examples of ectomorphs would be marathon runners, swimmers, basketball players, and fashion models.

Generally speaking people with ectomorphic bodies have a hard time gaining weight and difficulty building muscle mass.

1. A parasite, such as a flea, that lives on the exterior of another organism.
2. A parasite that lives on the surface or exterior of the host organism; such as, an ectophyte or an ectozoon.

The semisolid external layer of protoplasm in some unicellular organisms, as the amoeba; ectoplasm (a somewhat rigid, gelled layer beneath the cell membrane).

An obsolete method of diagnosis of a disease of any of the internal organs with the study of the movements of the abdominal wall or thorax caused by phonation which is the process of producing vocal sounds by means of vocal cords vibrating in an expiratory blast of air or emission of air from the lungs.

The external outer shell of organisms that supports and protects the bodies of certain creatures.

The outer layer or zone of a centrosome (small region of cytoplasm near the nucleus of a cell), seen at the poles of the spindle apparatus (structure that separates the chromosomes into the daughter cells during cell division).

An organism that lives on the surface of another organism to the benefit of both; such as, any of the microbes that normally live on the skin.