histone

H4I1S1T1O1N1E1
UK/ˈhɪstəʊn/US/ˈhɪstoʊn/

noun

Any of various simple water-soluble proteins that are rich in the basic amino acids lysine and arginine and are complexed with DNA in the nucleosomes of eukaryotic chromatin.

OriginGerman Histon ← Ancient Greek ἵστημι →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounhistone (plural histones)

plural histones

  1. biochemistryAny of various simple water-soluble proteins that are rich in the basic amino acids lysine and arginine and are complexed with DNA in the nucleosomes of eukaryotic chromatin.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἵστημι“make stand”
  2. GermanHiston
  3. Englishhistone

Borrowed from German Histon, perhaps from Ancient Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi, “make stand”) or ἱστός (histós, “loom”).

More words from German, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian хисто́н
  • хисто́н (histón)water-soluble protein
Catalan histona
  • histonawater-soluble protein
Chinese Mandarin 組蛋白 /组蛋白
  • 組蛋白 /组蛋白 (zǔdànbái)water-soluble protein
Esperanto histono
  • histonowater-soluble protein
French histone
  • histonewater-soluble protein
German Histon
  • Histonwater-soluble protein
Italian istone
  • istonewater-soluble protein
Japanese ヒストン
  • ヒストン (hisuton)water-soluble protein
Portuguese histona
  • histonawater-soluble protein
Russian гисто́н
  • гисто́н (gistón)water-soluble protein
Spanish histona
  • histonawater-soluble protein
Swedish histon
  • histonwater-soluble protein

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Honesti
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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