Ribophore

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A transmembrane protein found in the rough endoplasmic reticulum that helps anchor ribosomes to the membrane surface during protein synthesis
2. A membrane-bound protein of the rough endoplasmic reticulum that serves as a docking site, holding ribosomes in place while they make proteins
3. An integral membrane glycoprotein in the rough endoplasmic reticulum that binds ribosomes and so keeps them attached to the cell's protein-making apparatus

Etymology: "Ribophore" is a technical coinage built from two parts: "ribo-", shortened from "ribose", the name of the five-carbon sugar that forms part of RNA, and "-phore", from the Greek "phoros", "bearing" or "carrying", which comes from "pherein", "to bear". Put together, the term means something that carries ribose, or, in biological usage, a structure that carries or holds ribosomes. The Greek element appears in many scientific coinages, such as "chromophore" (a carrier of colour) and "photophore" (a light-bearing organ), so readers who know those words can work out the sense of this one. The term is specialised and is not used in general English, and its sources do not record who coined it or when, so I have left those details out.