enucleate

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/ɪˈnukliˌeɪt//ɪˈnjukliˌeɪt//ɪˈnukliɪt//ɪˈnjukliɪt/

verb

To remove the nucleus from (a cell).

OriginLatin ēnucleātus →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

verbenucleate (third-person singular simple present enucleates, present participle enucleating, simple past and past participle enucleated)

present singular third person enucleates · participle present enucleating · participle past enucleated · past enucleated

  1. transitivebiologyTo remove the nucleus from (a cell).
  2. transitivemedicineTo extract (an object) intact from an enclosed space
  3. archaicTo explain; to lay bare.
adjectiveenucleate (not comparable)
  1. not comparableEnucleated, having no nucleus.
nounenucleate (plural enucleates)

plural enucleates

  1. biologyA cell which has been enucleated

    By 12 hours after enucleation, the rate of incorporation of 3H-labeled amino acids is severely reduced, and by 18 hours many enucleates no longer show detectable incorporation.

    1973, D.M. Prescott, J.B. Kirkpatrick, “Mass Enucleation of Captured Animal Cells”, in David M. Prescott, editors, Methods in Cell Biology, Volume VII, →ISBN, page 197

Origin

  1. Latinēnucleātus
  2. Englishenucleate

Borrowed from Latin ēnucleātus, from ēnucleō (“to remove the kernel from”), from ē- + nucleus (“kernel”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French énucléer
  • énucléerto remove, especially a tumor
Hebrew שלף גרעין, ניקר
  • שלף גרעין (shaláf gar'ín)remove the nucleus
  • ניקר (nikér)remove the eye

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with enucleate

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All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

enucleate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enucleate

MLA

“enucleate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enucleate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enucleate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enucleate.

Source: enucleate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.