Meanings
cyte1
plural cytes
- rarebiologySynonym of cell (“quantity of protoplasm, containing a nucleus, enclosed within a cell membrane”).
The low form elements devoid of a nucleus were in 1866 by Hæckel (Generelle Morphologie der Organismen 1866, vol. 1, p. 270) called cytodes (cell like) to distinguish them from cytes or cells.
1874 August, Louis Elsberg, «Regeneration, or the Preservation of Organic Molecules: A Contribution to the Doctrine of Evolution» in Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Twenty-third meeting, held at Hartford, Conn., August, 1874, ed. Frederic Ward Putnam (1875), part II, § B: “Natural History”, field iv: ‘Zoology’, page 90, footnote 1Synonyms: cell
cyte2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of cell (“quantity of protoplasm, containing a nucleus, enclosed within a cell membrane”).
Origin
- Ancient Greekκῠ́τος“hollow”, “vessel”
- Englishcyte
Borrowed from Ancient Greek κῠ́τος (kŭ́tos, “hollow”, “vessel”); compare -cyte.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cyte
Cite this entry
cyte. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyte
“cyte.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyte. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cyte,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyte.
Source: cyte on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.