Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fungi \Fun"gi\, n. pl. (Bot.)
   A group of thallophytic plants 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.

   Note: The Fungi appear to have originated by degeneration
         from various alg[ae], losing their chlorophyll on
         assuming a parasitic or saprophytic life. By some they
         are 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.

Mesomycetes \Mes`o*my*ce"tes\, n. pl. [NL.; meso- + mycetes.]
   (Bot.)
   One of the three classes into which the fungi are divided in
   Brefeld's classification. -- {Mes`o*my*ce"tous}, a.