nucleus

English

WOTD – 26 August 2006    

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin nucleus (“kernel, core”), a diminutive of nux (“nut”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈnjuː.kli.əs/, X-SAMPA: /"nju:.kli.@s/
• (GenAm) IPA: /ˈnuːkliəs/, X-SAMPA: /"nu:kli@s/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

nucleus (plural nuclei or nucleuses)

1. The core, central part (of something), round which others are assembled.
2. An initial part or version that will receive additions.

   This collection will form the nucleus of a new library.

3. (chemistry, physics) The massive, positively charged central part of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons.
4. (cytology) A large organelle found in cells which contains genetic material.
5. (neuroanatomy) A ganglion, cluster of many neuronal bodies where synapsing occurs.
6. (linguistics) The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.

Derived terms

• nucle-
• nuclear
• nuclease
• nucleate, anucleate
• nucleic acid
• nuclein

• nucleo-
• nucleolar
• nucleon
• nucleotide
• nuclide
• atomic nucleus
• cell nucleus
• syllable nucleus, the central part of a syllable
• sentence nucleus, the syllable which receives the greatest stress in a word

Translations

core, central part of something

• Asturian: nucleu (ast) m
• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Czech: jádro (cs) n, střed (cs) m
• Dutch: kern (nl) m
• Esperanto: kerno (eo)
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: noyau (fr)
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) (pyrínas) m
• Hebrew: גרעין (he) (garin) m, ליבה (he) (liba) f
• Ido: nukleo (io)

• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Japanese: 核 (ja) (かく, kaku)
• Malay: teras (ms)
• Occitan: nucli (oc) m
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Portuguese: núcleo (pt)
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) n
• Russian: ядро (ru) (jadró) n, центр (ru) (centr) m
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas (gd), eitean (gd) m, cridhe (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: jézgra (sh) f
• Spanish: núcleo (es) m

initial part which will receive additions

• Dutch: kiem (nl)
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Malay: teras (ms)

• Romanian: nucleu (ro) m and n, miez (ro) n
• Russian: ядро (ru) (jadró) n
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas (gd), eitean (gd) m, cridhe (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: jézgra (sh) f

physics: massive, positively charged core of an atom

• Asturian: nucleu (ast) m
• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Czech: jádro (cs) n
• Dutch: nucleus (nl) m, atoomkern (nl) m
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• German: Atomkern (de) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) (pyrínas) m
• Hebrew: גרעין (he) (garin) m
• Hungarian: atommag (hu)
• Icelandic: atómkjarni (is) m, frumeindarkjarni (is) m, kjarni (is) m
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Irish: núicléas (ga) m

• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Japanese: 原子核 (ja) (げんしかく, genshikaku)
• Malay: nukleus (ms)
• Occitan: nucli (oc) m
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) n
• Russian: ядро (ru) (jadró) n
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: jézgra (sh) f
• Spanish: núcleo (es) m
• Swahili: nyukliasi (sw) (noun 9)
• Swedish: atomkärna (sv) c
• Welsh: niwclews (cy) m, cnewyllyn (cy) m

cytology: large organelle found in cells

• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Czech: jádro (cs) n
• Dutch: nucleus (nl) m, celkern (nl) f and m
• Esperanto: nukleo (eo)
• Finnish: tuma (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• German: Zellkern (de) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) (pyrínas) m
• Icelandic: frumukjarni (is) m, kjarni (is) m
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Japanese: 細胞核 (ja) (saibōkaku)

• Korean: 세포핵 (ko) (sepohaek)
• Malay: nukleus (ms)
• Navajo: hinááh bijéí bijéí
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) n
• Russian: ядро (ru) (jadró) n
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: jézgra (sh) f
• Spanish: núcleo (es) m
• Swahili: nyukliasi (sw) (noun 9)
• Swedish: cellkärna (sv) c
• Turkish: çekirdek (tr), hücre çekirdeği (tr)

neuroanatomy: cluster of many neuronal bodies

• Dutch: nucleus (nl) m
• Malay: nukleus (ms)
• Russian: ядро (ru) (jadró) n

• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: jézgra (sh) f

linguistics: centre of a syllable

• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m

• Malay: teras (ms)
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas (gd)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: derc'han m -où pl
• Mandarin: 原子核(1)
• German: Nukleus m, Kern m
• Icelandic: kjarni m
• Interlingua: nucleo
• Kurdish: navok (ku) f, navik (ku) f, kakil (ku) f

• Norwegian: kjærne m
• Portuguese: núcleo m
• Romanian: nucleu n
• Swedish: kärna c (1,3) cellkärna c (2)
• Urdu: مرکزہ (markazzah) m

Anagrams

• nucules

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Dutch

Etymology

From Latin nūcleus (“kernel, core”), diminutive of nux (“nut”).

Noun

nucleus m (plural nucleussen or nuclei, diminutive nucleusje)

1. nucleus, core

Synonyms

• kern

Related terms

• nucleair
• nucleïne
• nucleon

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Latin

Etymology

A diminutive of nux (“nut”).

Noun

nūcleus (genitive nūclei); m, second declension

1. (literally) (small) nut
2. kernel
3. (figuratively) core
4. nucleus

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	nūcleus	nūcleī
genitive	nūcleī	nūcleōrum
dative	nūcleō	nūcleīs
accusative	nūcleum	nūcleōs
ablative	nūcleō	nūcleīs
vocative	nūclee	nūcleī

Descendants

• English: nucleus
• Galician: núcleo
• Italian: nucleo
• Spanish: núcleo