Standard Lemma guide

karyon

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkæɹi.ən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The nucleus of a cell.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, cytology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nucleus, cell nucleus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organelle, cell organelle, cell organ

Narrower terms: pronucleus, subthalamic nucleus

History

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek κάρυον (káruon, “nut, kernel”).