Eucaryots

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organisms whose cells contain a distinct nucleus enclosed within membranes, typically including animals, plants, fungi, and protists; they have complex cell structures with organelles
2. Living beings characterized by cells with membrane-bound nuclei and organelles, encompassing a wide variety of life forms from single-celled protists to multicellular animals and plants
3. Entities distinguished by their cellular organization which features a true nucleus surrounded by a nuclear envelope as well as various membrane-bound compartments enabling complex functions

Etymology: "Eucaryots" is the plural of "eucaryot", so it names the whole group of organisms rather than a single one. The singular is built from Greek roots: "eu-", meaning "well" or "true", and "karyon", meaning "nut" or "kernel", which in biology came to mean the cell nucleus. The sense is therefore "truly nucleated", a name for cells that enclose their genetic material in a membrane-bound nucleus. The spelling you see most often today is "eukaryote", with a "k" before the "a" in the root. The "c" form is an older variant, and both are used in print. The contrast the name draws is with "prokaryote" (from "pro-", "before" or "primitive"), which describes cells lacking a nucleus, such as bacteria and archaea.

Synonyms: eukaryotes

Antonyms: prokaryotes