noun · 3 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/pɹəʊˈkæɹi.əʊt/
Received-Pronunciation:/pɹəʊˈkæɹi.ɒt/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/pɹoʊˈkæɹi.oʊt/
General-American:/pɹoʊˈkæɹi.ət/
General-American:/pɹoʊˈkɛəɹi.oʊt/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An organism whose cell (or cells) are characterized by the absence of a nucleus or any other membrane-bound organelles.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
In the two-empire system of biological taxonomy, an organism of the kingdom Prokaryotae (now superseded).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a unicellular organism having cells lacking membrane-bound nuclei; bacteria are the prime example but also included are blue-green algae and actinomycetes and mycoplasma
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: procaryote
Antonyms: eukaryote
Broader terms: organism, being
History
Etymology
From pro- + karyon + -ote.
Across languages
Translations
35 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
بِدَائِيَّات النَّوَى
(bidāʔiyyāt an-nawā)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Catalan:
procariota
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Chinese Cantonese:
原核生物
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Chinese Mandarin:
原核生物
(yuánhéshēngwù)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Dutch:
prokaryoot
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Finnish:
prokaryootti
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Finnish:
prokariootti
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Finnish:
alkeistumallinen
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Finnish:
esitumainen
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Finnish:
tumaton
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
French:
procaryote
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Georgian:
პროკარიოტი
(ṗroḳarioṭi)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
German:
Prokaryot
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Greek:
προκαρυώτης
(prokaryótis)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Hungarian:
prokarióta
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Icelandic:
dreifkjörnungur
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Ido:
prokarioto
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Italian:
procariote
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Japanese:
原核生物
(genkaku-seibutsu)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Khmer:
ប្រូការីយ៉ូត
(proukaariiyout)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Korean:
원핵생물
(wonhaeksaengmul)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Latin:
prokaryota
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Occitan:
procariòta
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Polish:
prokariont
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Portuguese:
procarionte
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Portuguese:
procarioto
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Quechua:
kawsaykuq hukinnaq
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Romanian:
procariot
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Russian:
прокарио́та
(prokarióta)
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Spanish:
procariota
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Spanish:
procarionte
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Swedish:
prokaryot
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Turkish:
prokaryot
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Vietnamese:
sinh vật nhân sơ
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
Welsh:
procaryot
— organism characterized by absence of nucleus
