Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nucleotide” come from?

Nucleotide comes from English nucleus, from Latin nucleus meaning "kernel," from Latin nux meaning "nut," from Proto-Indo-European knew- and ken-.

nucleotide (English): The monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer...

Definitions

  1. The monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer...

Ancestry of “nucleotide”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishnucleo-Forming words pertaining to nuclei
2Latinnū̆cleus—
3Latinnuculeapertaining to a small nut
4Latin-eusargentum + API → argenteus; ferrum + API →...
5Ancient Greek-εῖοςForms adjectives, usually with a meaning of "of"...
6Proto-Indo-European-iHwós—
7Proto-Indo-European-wósCreates adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “nucleotide”

  • oligonucleotide
  • dinucleotide
  • polynucleotide
  • ribonucleotide
  • trinucleotide
  • mononucleotide
  • deoxynucleotide
  • nucleotidase
  • dideoxynucleotide
  • nucleotidyltransferase
  • radionucleotide
  • hexanucleotide
  • polydeoxynucleotide
  • pentanucleotide
  • internucleotide
  • oligoribonucleotide
  • polyribonucleotide
  • nucleotidic
  • ectonucleotide
  • heptanucleotide
  • nonanucleotide
  • decanucleotide
  • octanucleotide
  • hexadeoxynucleotide
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -wós →