Where does “unicellular” come from?
Unicellular comes from Latin uni- and cellularis, from Latin unus meaning "one," from Proto-Indo-European óynos with the same sense.
unicellular (English): Describing any microorganism that has a single...
Definitions
- Describing any microorganism that has a single...
Ancestry of “unicellular”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cellular | Of, relating to, consisting of, or resembling a... |
| 2 | Latin | cellularis | cellular |
| 3 | Latin | cellula | small room, especially that of a slave; humble... |
| 4 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |