I've generally seen **cytosol** defined as *the solution inside cells minus the organelles, cytoskeleton, etc* and **cytoplasm** as *the cytosol plus the organelles, cytoskeleton, etc*. This naturally leads to the impression that cytosol is the cytoplasm minus all the solids. The problem here is that there are all sorts of other large molecules in the cells which could be thought of as solid. Are they also part of the cytosol or are they suspended in it? (I.e. are they part of the cytosol or are they non-cytosol components of the cytoplasm?)

Basically, I'm asking if the precise definition of cytosol is just *anything in the cell that's not behind an endomembrane (save the exoskeleton)* or if the dividing line is something else.

*Subquestion: things can get even more terminologically confused because the cytosol is sometimes called the matrix. What the heck is the preferred terminology with this stuff?*