English Explanatory Dictionary

nucleus

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The core, central part of something, around which other elements are assembled.
  2. An initial part or version that will receive additions.
  3. The massive, positively charged central part of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons.
  4. A large membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells which contains genetic material.
  5. A ganglion, cluster of many neuronal bodies where synapsing occurs.
  6. The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.
  7. A small bee-hive used to create a colony from a larger existing one.

Pronunciation

/ˈnjuː.kli.əs/ /ˈnuː.kli.əs/ en-us-nucleus.ogg

Word forms

nucleus nuclei nucleuses

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *knuks Latin nux Latin nucleuslbor. English nucleus Learned borrowing from Latin nucleus (“kernel, core”). The earliest uses refer to the head of a comet and the kernel of a seed, both recorded in Lexicon Technicum in 1704. The sense in atomic physics was coined by British scientist Michael Faraday in 1844 in a theoretical meaning.

Derived words

active galactic nucleus antinucleus atomic nucleus binucleus Borromean nucleus caudate nucleus cell nucleus dentate nucleus Edinger-Westphal nucleus emboliform nucleus endonucleus gameto-nucleus geniculate nucleus halo nucleus hypernucleus ice nucleus intermediolateral nucleus lateral geniculate nucleus lenticular nucleus lentiform nucleus macronucleus medial geniculate nucleus meganucleus micronucleus Monakow's nucleus myonucleus nucle- nuclear nuclease nucleate, anucleate nucleic acid nuclein nucleo- nucleolar nucleon nucleotide nucleus accumbens nucleus ambiguus nucleus cowry, nucleus cowrie nucleus globosus nucleuslike nucleus pulposus nucleus ruber nuclide paranucleus perinucleus planetary nebula nucleus prenucleus pronucleus red nucleus rejection nucleus retrotrapezoid nucleus sentence nucleus subnucleus syllable nucleus vestibular nucleus
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