nucleus

See also: nucléus

English

WOTD – 26 August 2006

English Wikipedia has an article on:

nucleus

nucleus

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.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuː.kli.əs/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnuː.kli.əs/
- Audio (US): (file)

Noun

nucleus (plural nuclei or nucleuses)

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.
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.
(chemistry, physics) The massive, positively charged central part of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons.
Meronyms: proton, neutron, electron
(cytology) A large membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells which contains genetic material.
(neuroanatomy) A ganglion, cluster of many neuronal bodies where synapsing occurs.
(phonetics, phonology) The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.
Coordinate terms: onset, coda

Derived terms

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)
Hindi: केंद्र (hi) m (kendra), केंद्रीय (hi) (kendrīya)
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)
Sanskrit: केन्द्र (sa) (kendra)
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)
Hindi: केंद्र (hi) m (kendra), केंद्रीय (hi) (kendrīya)
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)
Breton: kraoñell f
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)
Breton: kraoñell f
Bulgarian: ядро́ (bg) n (jadró)
Catalan: nucli (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 細胞核／细胞核 (sai³ baau¹ hat⁶)

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)
Hindi: केंद्रक m (kendrak)
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)
Welsh: cnewyllyn (cy) m

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)

nucleus, core

Synonyms

kern

Related terms

Latin

Alternative forms

nuculeus

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) 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

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	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)