Standard Lemma guide

nucleolus

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

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  • rhymes with -iːələs

1

noun

Meaning 1

A conspicuous, rounded body within 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: nucleole

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a small round body of protein in a cell nucleus; such organelles contain RNA and are involved in protein synthesis

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nucleole

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organelle, cell organelle, cell organ

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *knuks Latin nux Latin nucleuslbor. English nucle(us) Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ulus Latin -olus English nucleolus From nucle(us) + Latin -olus.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: bërthamëz — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Amharic: አስኳል (ʾäskwal) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Armenian: կորիզակ (korizak) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Azerbaijani: nüvəcik — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Breton: nukleol — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Bulgarian: ядърце (jadǎrce) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Catalan: nuclèol — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Czech: jadérko — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Dutch: nucleolus — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Dutch: kernlichaampje — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Esperanto: nukleolo — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Estonian: tuumake — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Faroese: kyknulikam — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Finnish: tumajyvänen — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Finnish: nukleoli — part of nucleus of a cell
  • French: nucléole — part of nucleus of a cell
  • German: Kernkörperchen — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Hindi: केंद्रिका (kendrikā) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Hungarian: sejtmagvacska — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Icelandic: kjarnakorn — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Ido: nukleolo — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Irish: eithneog — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Irish: núiclín — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Japanese: 核小体 (kakushōtai) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Kazakh: ядрошық (ädroşyq) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Korean: 핵소체 (haeksoche) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Northern Kurdish: dendikok — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Latvian: kodoliņš — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Lithuanian: branduolėlis — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Manx: myn-heshvean — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Mongolian: бөөмхөн (böömxön) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kromosomar — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Polish: jąderko — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Polish: nukleolus — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Portuguese: nucléolo — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Quechua: huk'icha — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Russian: я́дрышко (jádryško) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Serbo-Croatian: једа́рце — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Serbo-Croatian: jedárce — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Spanish: nucléolo — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Swedish: nukleol — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Tagalog: ibutod — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Tamil: கருவுட்பருனி (karuvuṭparuṉi) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Turkish: çekirdekçik — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Ukrainian: ядерце (jaderce) — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Vietnamese: hạch nhân — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Vietnamese: nhân con — part of nucleus of a cell
  • Welsh: cnewyllan — part of nucleus of a cell