Nucleotides

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Biochemical entities that consist of a nitrogenous base, sugar, and phosphate group, serving as the basic units in both DNA and RNA structures
2. Organic molecules featuring a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base, pivotal for genetic information and energy transfer within cells
3. Chemical compounds made up of a nitrogenous base, sugar, and phosphate, fundamental in forming DNA, RNA, and serving as energy carriers in cellular processes

Etymology: The "nucleo-" in "nucleotide" points back to a Latin word for a kernel or little nut, "nucleus," which is a diminutive of "nux," "nut." Its earliest English sense was the central part of something, and biologists borrowed it for the core of a cell. The chemical part of the name is a later addition: "-ide" is a suffix chemists use to mark certain compounds, so the whole word is a modern technical coinage built from a classical root and a chemical ending rather than something ancient. Put together, a nucleotide is a unit that combines the cell's nucleus-related chemistry with that "-ide" label. The word is plural here, so it refers to several such units at once, the building blocks that link into DNA and RNA.