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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Fungi \Fun"gi\ (f[u^]n"j[imac]), n. pl.; sing. {fungus}. (Biol.)
A group of thallophytic plant-like organisms of low
organization, destitute of chlorophyll, in which reproduction
is mainly accomplished by means of asexual spores, which are
produced in a great variety of ways, though sexual
reproduction is known to occur in certain {Phycomycetes}, or
so-called algal fungi. They include the molds, mildews,
rusts, smuts, mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, and the
allies of each. In the two-kingdom classification system they
were classed with the plants, but in the modern five-kingdom
classification, they are not classed as plants, but are
classed in their own separate kingdom fungi, which includes
the phyla Zygomycota (including simple fungi such as bread
molds), Ascomycota (including the yeasts), Basidiomycota
(including the mushrooms, smuts, and rusts), and
Deuteromycota (the {fungi imperfecti}). Some of the forms,
such as the yeasts, appear as single-celled microorganisms,
but all of the fungi are are eukaryotic, thus distinguishing
them from the prokaryotic microorganisms of the kingdon
Monera.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. PJC]

Note: The Fungi appear to have originated by degeneration
from various alg[ae], losing their chlorophyll on
assuming a parasitic or saprophytic life. In an earlier
classification they were divided into the subclasses
{Phycomycetes}, the lower or algal fungi; the
{Mesomycetes}, or intermediate fungi; and the
{Mycomycetes}, or the higher fungi; by others into the
{Phycomycetes}; the {Ascomycetes}, or sac-spore fungi;
and the {Basidiomycetes}, or basidial-spore fungi.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]


Fungus \Fun"gus\, n.; pl. L. {Fungi}, E. {Funguses}. [L., a
mushroom; perh. akin to a doubtful Gr. ? sponge, for ?; if
so, cf. E. sponge.]
1. (Bot.) Any one of the {Fungi}, a large and very complex
group of thallophytes of low organization, -- the molds,
mildews, rusts, smuts, mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls,
and the allies of each. See {fungi}.
[1913 Webster]

Note: The fungi are all destitute of chorophyll, and,
therefore, to be supplied with elaborated nourishment,
must live as saprophytes or parasites. They range in
size from single microscopic cells to systems of
entangled threads many feet in extent, which develop
reproductive bodies as large as a man's head. The
vegetative system consists of septate or rarely
unseptate filaments called hyph[ae]; the aggregation of
hyph[ae] into structures of more or less definite form
is known as the mycelium. See {Fungi}, in the
Supplement.
[1913 Webster]

2. (Med.) A spongy, morbid growth or granulation in animal
bodies, as the proud flesh of wounds. --Hoblyn.
[1913 Webster]