nucleus
nounUK /ˈnjuː.kli.əs/ · US /ˈnuː.kli.əs/
Etymology 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.
7 senses
- 1The core, central part of something, around which other…
- 2An initial part or version that will receive additions.
- 3The massive, positively charged central part of an atom…
- 4A large membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic…
- 5A ganglion, cluster of many neuronal bodies where…
- 6The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.
- 7A small bee-hive used to create a colony from a larger…
The core, central part of something, around which other elements are assembled.
- Situated in the centre of the largest agricultural basin in northern Formosa, T’ai-pei (population in 1964 was estimated to be 1,117,000) forms the nucleus of a major industrial area. The T’ai-pei industrial complex includes light and heavy industies within the urbanized area and also in several industrial suburbs, including Pan-ch’iao and Nan-chiang.1968, Norton S. Ginsburg, “T’AI-PEI”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 21, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 627, column 2:
An initial part or version that will receive additions.
- This collection will form the nucleus of a new library.
- This publishing project and the experience Power gained from wartime activities formed the nucleus for the development of the giant enterprise that today is University Microfilms, subsidiary of the Xerox Education Group, Xerox Corporation.1972, Carol A. Nemeyer, Scholarly Reprint Publishing in the United States, New York, N.Y.: R. R. Bowker Co., →ISBN, page 49:
Anatomy, Medicine, Neuroanatomy, Neurology, Neuroscience, Sciences A ganglion, cluster of many neuronal bodies where synapsing occurs.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Phonetics, Phonology, Sciences The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.
Agriculture, Beekeeping, Business, Lifestyle A small bee-hive used to create a colony from a larger existing one.
- Derived terms
56 terms
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