nucleus

See also: nucléus

English

WOTD – 26 August 2006

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 English scientist Michael Faraday in 1844 in a theoretical meaning.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuː.kli.əs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnuː.kli.əs/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Noun

nucleus (plural nuclei or nucleuses)

1. The core, central part of something, around which other elements are assembled.
   • 1968, Norton S. Ginsburg, “T’AI-PEI”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 21, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 627, column 2:

     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.

2. An initial part or version that will receive additions.

   This collection will form the nucleus of a new library.

   • 1972, Carol A. Nemeyer, Scholarly Reprint Publishing in the United States, New York, N.Y.: R. R. Bowker Co., →ISBN, page 49:

     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.

3. (chemistry, physics) The massive, positively charged central part of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons.

   Meronyms: proton, neutron, electron

4. (cytology) A large membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells which contains genetic material.
5. (neuroanatomy) A ganglion, cluster of many neuronal bodies where synapsing occurs.
6. (phonetics, phonology) The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.

   Coordinate terms: onset, coda

Derived terms

• active galactic nucleus
• atomic nucleus
• Borromean nucleus
• caudate nucleus
• caudate nucleus
• cell nucleus
• dentate nucleus
• Edinger-Westphal nucleus
• emboliform nucleus
• geniculate nucleus
• halo nucleus
• ice nucleus
• intermediolateral nucleus
• lateral geniculate nucleus
• lenticular nucleus
• lentiform nucleus
• medial geniculate nucleus
• nucle-
• nuclear
• nuclease
• nucleate, anucleate
• nucleic acid
• nuclein
• nucleo-
• nucleolar
• nucleon
• nucleotide
• nucleus accumbens
• nucleus accumbens
• nucleus ambiguus
• nucleus cowry, nucleus cowrie
• nucleus globosus
• nucleus pulposus
• nucleus ruber
• nuclide
• planetary nebula nucleus
• red nucleus
• retrotrapezoid nucleus
• sentence nucleus
• syllable nucleus
• vestibular nucleus

 

Translations

core, central part of something

• Afrikaans: kern
• Arabic: نَوَاة f (nawāh)
• Armenian: միջուկ (hy) (miǰuk)
• Asturian: nucleu m
• Belarusian: ядро́ n (jadró), цэнтр m (centr)
• Bulgarian: ядро́ (bg) n (jadró)
• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 核心 (zh) (héxīn), 核 (zh) (hé)

• Czech: jádro (cs) n, střed (cs) m
• Danish: kerne c
• Dutch: kern (nl) m
• Esperanto: kerno (eo)
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• German: Kern (de) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) m (pyrínas)
• Hebrew: גַּרְעִין (he) m (gar'ín), ליבה \ לִבָּה (he) f (libá)
• Hungarian: mag (hu)
• Icelandic: kjarni (is) m
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Indonesian: inti (id)
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Japanese: 核 (ja) (かく, kaku), 核心 (ja) (かくしん, kakushin)
• Kazakh: ядро (ädro)
• Korean: 핵심(核心) (ko) (haeksim), 핵(核) (ko) (haek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ناوک (nawik)

• Macedonian: јадро n (jadro)
• Malay: teras (ms)
• Maori: karihi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjerne (no) m

  Nynorsk: kjerne (no) m

• Occitan: nucli (oc) m
• Persian: هسته (fa) (haste)
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Portuguese: núcleo (pt)
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) n
• Russian: ядро́ (ru) n (jadró), центр (ru) m (centr)
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas, eitean m, cridhe m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је́згра f

  Roman: jézgra (sh) f

• Slovak: jadro n
• Slovene: jedro (sl) n
• Spanish: núcleo (es) m
• Swedish: kärna (sv) c
• Ukrainian: ядро́ (uk) n (jadró), центр (uk) m (centr)
• Urdu: مَرکَزَہ m (markaza)

initial part which will receive additions

• Afrikaans: kern
• Bulgarian: заро́диш (bg) m (zaródiš)
• Dutch: kiem (nl)
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) (pyrínas)
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Malay: teras (ms)
• Polish: rdzeń (pl) m
• Portuguese: núcleo (pt) m
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) m or n, miez (ro) n
• Russian: ядро́ (ru) n (jadró)
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas, eitean m, cridhe m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је́згра f

  Roman: jézgra (sh) f

physics: massive, positively charged core of an atom

• Afrikaans: nukleus, atoomkern
• Albanian: bërthamë (sq) f
• Arabic: نَوَاة f (nawāh)
• Armenian: միջուկ (hy) (miǰuk)
• Asturian: nucleu m
• Azerbaijani: nüvə
• Belarusian: ядро́ n (jadró)
• Bulgarian: ядро́ (bg) n (jadró)
• Burmese: နျူကလိယ (my) (nyuka.li.ya.)
• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 原子核 (zh) (yuánzǐhé)

• Czech: jádro (cs) n
• Dutch: nucleus (nl) m, atoomkern (nl) m
• Estonian: tuum (et)
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• Georgian: ბირთვი (birtvi)
• German: Atomkern (de) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) m (pyrínas)
• Hebrew: גַּרְעִין (he) m (gar'ín)
• Hindi: नाभिक m (nābhik), केंद्रक m (kendrak)
• Hungarian: atommag (hu)
• Icelandic: atómkjarni (is) m, frumeindarkjarni (is) m, kjarni (is) m
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Indonesian: inti (id)
• Irish: núicléas m
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Japanese: 原子核 (ja) (げんしかく, genshikaku)
• Kazakh: ядро (ädro)
• Khmer: នយស្តិ (nĕəʼyŭəh), ណ្វៃយ៉ូ (nvɨyyou)
• Korean: 원자핵(原子核) (ko) (wonjahaek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ناوک (nawik)

• Kyrgyz: ядро (ky) (yadro)
• Latvian: kodols m
• Lithuanian: branduolys m
• Macedonian: јадро n (jadro)
• Malay: nukleus (ms)
• Maori: karihi
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: цөм (mn) (cöm)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjerne (no) m

  Nynorsk: kjerne (no) m

• Occitan: nucli (oc) m
• Persian: هسته (fa) (haste)
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Portuguese: núcleo (pt) m
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) n
• Russian: ядро́ (ru) n (jadró)
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је́згра f

  Roman: jézgra (sh) f

• Slovak: jadro n
• Slovene: jedro (sl) n
• Spanish: núcleo (es) m
• Swahili: nyukliasi class 9
• Swedish: atomkärna (sv) c
• Tagalog: butod
• Tajik: ядро (yadro)
• Tamil: அணுக்கரு (ta) (aṇukkaru)
• Thai: นิวเคลียส (th) (niu-klíias)
• Turkmen: ýadro
• Ukrainian: ядро́ (uk) n (jadró)
• Uzbek: yadro (uz)
• Vietnamese: hạt nhân (vi)
• Welsh: niwclews (cy) m, cnewyllyn (cy) m

cytology: large organelle found in cells

• Afrikaans: selkern
• Arabic: نَوَاة f (nawāh)
• Belarusian: ядро́ n (jadró)
• Bulgarian: ядро́ (bg) n (jadró)
• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 細胞核／细胞核 (zh) (xìbāohé)

• Czech: jádro (cs) n
• Danish: cellekerne (da) c
• Dutch: nucleus (nl) m, celkern (nl) f or m
• Esperanto: nukleo
• Faroese: kyknukjarni m
• Finnish: tuma (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• German: Zellkern (de) m, Nukleus (de) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) m (pyrínas)
• Hungarian: sejtmag (hu)
• Icelandic: frumukjarni (is) m, kjarni (is) m
• Ido: nukleo (io)
• Indonesian: inti sel, nukleus (id)
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Japanese: 細胞核 (ja) (さいぼうかく, saibōkaku)
• Kazakh: ядро (ädro)
• Khmer: ណ្វៃយ៉ូ (nvɨyyou)
• Korean: 세포핵(細胞核) (sepohaek)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ناوک (nawik)

• Macedonian: јадро (jadro)
• Malay: nukleus (ms)
• Manx: çheshvean
• Maori: karihi
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: бөөм (mn) (bööm)

  Mongolian: ᠪᠥᠭᠡᠮ (bögem)

• Navajo: hinááh bijéí bijéí
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kjerne (no) m, cellekjerne (no) m

  Nynorsk: kjerne (no) m, cellekjerne m

• Polish: jądro (pl) n, jądro komórkowe (pl) n, nukleus (pl) m
• Portuguese: núcleo (pt) m
• Romanian: nucleu (ro) n
• Russian: ядро́ (ru) n (jadró)
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је́згра f

  Roman: jézgra (sh) f

• Slovak: jadro n
• Slovene: jedro (sl) n
• Spanish: núcleo (es) m
• Swahili: nyukliasi class 9
• Swedish: cellkärna (sv) c
• Tagalog: butod
• Turkish: çekirdek (tr), hücre çekirdeği, nükleus
• Ukrainian: ядро́ (uk) n (jadró)
• Vietnamese: nhân tế bào, nhân (vi)

neuroanatomy: cluster of many neuronal bodies

• Afrikaans: nukleus
• Dutch: nucleus (nl) m
• Hungarian: mag (hu)
• Kazakh: ядро (ädro)
• Malay: nukleus (ms)
• Portuguese: gânglio (pt) m
• Russian: ядро́ (ru) n (jadró)
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: је́згра f

  Roman: jézgra (sh) f

linguistics: centre of a syllable

• Afrikaans: sillabekern
• Catalan: nucli (ca) m
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: noyau (fr) m
• Galician: núcleo (gl) m
• German: Silbenkern (de) m, Nukleus (de) m, Silbengipfel (de) m
• Greek: πυρήνας (el) m (pyrínas)
• Hungarian: szótagmag
• Icelandic: kjarni (is) m
• Italian: nucleo (it) m
• Malay: teras (ms)
• Polish: jądro (pl) n
• Portuguese: núcleo (pt) m
• Russian: ядро́ (ru) n (jadró)
• Scottish Gaelic: niùclas
• Swedish: kärna (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 原子核 (zh) (yuánzǐhé) (1)

• Breton: ^{(please verify)} derc'han (br) m, ^{(please verify)} -où (br) pl
• German: ^{(please verify)} Nukleus (de) m, ^{(please verify)} Kern (de) m
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} nucleo
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} navok (ku) f, ^{(please verify)} navik (ku) f, ^{(please verify)} kakil (ku) f

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} nucleu (ro) n
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} kärna (sv) c (1,3) ^{(please verify)} cellkärna (sv) c (2)

Anagrams

• nucules, unclues

Dutch

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nucleus (“kernel, core”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnykleːjʏs/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

nucleus m (plural nucleussen or nuclei, diminutive nucleusje n)

1. nucleus, core

Synonyms

• kern

Related terms

• nucleair
• nucleïne
• nucleon

Latin

Alternative forms

• nuculeus

Etymology

A diminutive of nux (“nut”), with an irregular change of gender from feminine to masculine.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnu.kle.us/, [ˈnʊkɫ̪eʊs̠] or IPA^(key): /ˈnuk.le.us/, [ˈnʊkɫ̪eʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnu.kle.us/, [ˈnuːkleus] or IPA^(key): /ˈnuk.le.us/, [ˈnukleus]

Noun

nucleus m (genitive nucleī); second declension

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

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nucleus	nucleī
Genitive	nucleī	nucleōrum
Dative	nucleō	nucleīs
Accusative	nucleum	nucleōs
Ablative	nucleō	nucleīs
Vocative	nuclee	nucleī

Derived terms

• nucleāris (New Latin)
• nucleātus (New Latin)
• nucleō

Descendants

• Derived:
  • ⇒ Italian: nocciolo
  • ⇒ Sicilian: nòzzulu
• Borrowed:
  • → Asturian: nucleu
  • → Catalan: nucli
  • → Dutch: nucleus
  • → English: nucleus
  • → Galician: núcleo
  • → Italian: nucleo
  • → Piedmontese: nùcleo
  • → Portuguese: núcleo
  • → Romanian: nucleu
  • → Sicilian: nùcliu
  • → Spanish: núcleo
  • → Translingual: Nucleolaria nucleus

References

• “nū̆clĕus (nŭcŭlĕus)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• nŭclĕus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,043/1.
• “nucleus” on page 1,199 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)