Nucleus : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: Nucleus	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for Nucleus
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
nucleus n a part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction Synonym(s): nucleus, cell nucleus, karyon the positively charged dense center of an atom a small group of indispensable persons or things; "five periodicals make up the core of their publishing program" Synonym(s): core, nucleus, core group (astronomy) the center of the head of a comet; consists of small solid particles of ice and frozen gas that vaporizes on approaching the sun to form the coma and tail any histologically identifiable mass of neural cell bodies in the brain or spinal cord the central structure of the lens that is surrounded by the cortex Synonym(s): lens nucleus, nucleus
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Nucleus \Nu"cleus\, n.; pl. E. {Nucleuses}, L. {Nuclei}. [L., a kernel, dim. fr. nux, nucis, nut. Cf. {Newel} post.] 1. A kernel; hence, a central mass or point about which matter is gathered, or to which accretion is made; the central or material portion; -- used both literally and figuratively. It must contain within itself a nucleus* of truth. --I. Taylor. 2. (Astron.) The body or the head of a comet. 3. (Bot.) (a) An incipient ovule of soft cellular tissue. (b) A whole seed, as contained within the seed coats. 4. (Biol.) A body, usually spheroidal, in a cell or a protozoan, distinguished from the surrounding protoplasm by a difference in refrangibility and in behavior towards chemical reagents. It is more or less protoplasmic, and consists of a clear fluid (achromatin) through which extends a network of fibers (chromatin) in which may be suspended a second rounded body, the nucleolus (see {Nucleoplasm}). See {Cell division}, under {Division}.