Nuclein

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A phosphorus-rich protein-like substance originally isolated from the nuclei of cells, later recognized as the basis of nucleic acids
2. An early biochemical term for the phosphorus-containing material found within the nucleus of a living cell
3. Formerly used to describe the phosphorus-bearing compound extracted from cell nuclei, now known to be a nucleoprotein

Etymology: "Nuclein" is a coinage from the laboratory, not an ancient term, and its name records a discovery about the cell's core. It was formed in German from "nucleus," the Latin word for a kernel or the core of something, with the chemical suffix "-in," the ending used to name substances. The German word was adopted for a substance first isolated from cell nuclei, and its name simply describes where it was found. The suffix "-in" is the same one seen in words like "cellulose" and "protein" in its modern chemical use, where it marks a compound rather than a living thing. So the word combines a Latin noun meaning "kernel" with a scientific ending that stamps the result as a substance, a pattern typical of nineteenth-century chemistry.