Etymology

microtubule

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Today it means: A small tube made of protein and found in cells; part of the cytoskeleton. Full definition →

English tubule ← Latin tubulu ← Ancient Greek μῑκρο- (mīkro-)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-der.?
  2. Ancient Greekμῑκρός (mīkrós)
  3. Ancient Greekμῑκρο- (mīkro-)
  4. Englishmicro-
  5. Latintuba
  6. Latintubus
  7. Latintubulu
  8. Englishtubule
  9. English todaymicrotubule

From micro- + tubule.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.