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13 entries found

nucleus (n.)

1704, "kernel of a nut," 1708, "head of a comet," from Latin nucleus "kernel," from nucula "little nut," diminutive of nux (genitive nucis) "nut," from PIE *kneu- "nut" (source also of Middle Irish cnu, Welsh cneuen, Middle Breton knoen "nut," Old Norse hnot, Old English hnutu "nut"). General sense of "central part or thing, about which others cluster" is from 1762. Use in reference to cells first recorded 1831. Modern atomic meaning is 1912, first by Ernest Rutherford, though theoretical use for "central point of an atom" is from 1844, in Faraday.

nuclide (n.)

1947, from nucleus + -ide.

nucleolus (n.)

1845, from Latin nucleolus, literally "a little nut," diminutive of nucleus (see nucleus).

nucleation (n.)

1861, noun of action from nucleate (v.), from Latin nucleatus, past participle of nucleare, from nucleus (see nucleus).

nucleotide (n.)

1908, from German nucleotid (1908), from nucleo-, modern combining form of Latin nucleus (see ….nucleus) + -ide, with -t- for the sake of euphony.

nucleic (adj.)

from a cell nucleus" (see nucleus + -in (2)) + -ic.

nougat (n.)

nominative *nuca), from Latin nux (genitive nucis) "nut," from PIE *kneu- "nut" (see nucleus).

nuclear (adj.)

1841, "of or like the nucleus of a cell," from nucleus + -ar, probably by influence of French …

enucleation (n.)

of enucleare "to lay open, explain in detail," literally "to remove the kernel from" (see ex- + nucleus). Mostly figurative in Latin …

nut (n.)

nux; see nucleus). Sense of "testicle" is attested from 1915. Nut-brown is from c. 1300 of animals; c. 1500 …