nucleus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The central part of an atom, made of protons and neutrons.

   An atom has a dense nucleus surrounded by electrons.

2. 2
   noun

   The central part of a cell that controls its growth and contains its DNA.

   The nucleus carries the cell's genetic information.

3. 3
   noun

   The central or most important part of something, around which the rest is built.

   These few players form the nucleus of the new team.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Nucleus comes from Latin nucleus or nuculeus, literally “little nut,” formed from nux “nut” and meaning an inner part or kernel. English first used it for the bright core of a comet, then extended it to other central cores. Its biological and early atomic-theory senses arose in the mid-19th century, while the modern sense of an atom’s positively charged center developed in the early 20th century.

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.

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