Dendrocyte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cell with branched, tree-like extensions, found in certain tissues and involved in the body's immune or support functions
2. A branching cell type whose tree-like projections help it communicate with or support surrounding tissue
3. Any of several cells marked by many branching processes, particularly within immune or supportive tissue systems

Etymology: A dendrocyte is a cell found in the tissue of the body, named by combining two Greek-derived building blocks. The first, "dendro-", comes from the Greek "dendron", meaning "tree", and in scientific coinages it signals branching, tree-like structure. The second, "-cyte", comes from the Greek "kytos", meaning "hollow vessel" or "cell", and is the standard suffix for cells in biology, as in lymphocyte or erythrocyte. The name describes what the cell looks like under the microscope: it sends out many branching extensions, like the limbs of a tree. Because the word is built from these parts rather than inherited from ancient usage, it was coined by scientists using classical roots, and the ancient Greeks had no word for this cell.