Karyocyte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cell that contains a nucleus, as distinguished from one without such a membrane-bound structure
2. Any cell possessing a true nucleus surrounded by a nuclear envelope
3. A nucleated cell, in contrast to cells that lack a defined nucleus

Etymology: Karyocyte is a plain technical coinage: it combines "karyo-", from Greek "karyon" meaning "nut" and used in biology for the cell nucleus, with "-cyte", from Greek "kytos" meaning "hollow vessel" and used for a type of cell. The Greek "karyon" was applied to the nucleus because the nucleus sits at the centre of the cell much as a kernel sits inside a nut's shell, and the same root shows up in other nucleus-related terms such as karyotype and karyology. A karyocyte is therefore a cell that contains a nucleus, used in the sense of a cell with a distinct nucleus as opposed to an anucleate cell. Because the word is a modern scientific formation built from classical roots, it was not used by ancient Greek writers, who had no notion of the nucleus as a structure.

Synonyms: nucleated cell