Etymology

polymorphonuclear

Today it means: Having a nucleus with lobes of diverse shapes Full definition →

English nuclear ← Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) ← Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Ancient Greekμορφή (morphḗ)
  6. Englishmorpho-
  7. Englishnuclear
  8. English todaypolymorphonuclear

From poly- + morpho- + nuclear.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.