Etymology

cnidocyte

C3N1I1D2O1C3Y4T1E1

Today it means: A capsule, in certain cnidarians, containing a barbed, string-like tube that transfers a paralyzing sting. Full definition →

translingual Cnidaria ← Ancient Greek κνίδη
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκνίδη“nettle”
  2. translingual · derived fromCnidaria
  3. English todaycnidocyte

From translingual Cnidaria, from Ancient Greek κνίδη (knídē, “nettle”) + -cyte (“cell type”).

Words from the same roots

translingualCnidaria all →

cnido-

Ancient Greekκνίδη all →

cnidacnido-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.