Meanings
nounnucleic acid (countable and uncountable, plural nucleic acids)
plural nucleic acids
- countableuncountablebiochemistryAny acidic, chainlike biological macromolecule consisting of multiple repeat units of phosphoric acid, sugar and purine and pyrimidine bases; they are involved in the preservation, replication and expression of hereditary information in every living cell
Origin
nucleic + acid; named for the fact that in eukaryotes, some of the important actions of such acids are especially associated with the nucleus of the cell.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque azido nukleiko
- azido nukleikoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Catalan àcid nucleic
- àcid nucleicacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Chinese Cantonese 核酸
- 核酸 (hat⁶ syun¹)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Chinese Mandarin 核酸
- 核酸 (hésuān)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Czech nukleová kyselina
- nukleová kyselinaacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Danish nukleinsyre
- nukleinsyreacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Dutch nucleïnezuur, kernzuur
- nucleïnezuuracidic chainlike biological macromolecule
- kernzuuracidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Esperanto nuklea acido
- nuklea acidoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Finnish nukleiinihappo, tumahappo
- nukleiinihappoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
- tumahappoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
French acide nucléique
- acide nucléiqueacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
German Nukleinsäure
- Nukleinsäureacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Greek νουκλεϊκό οξύ
- νουκλεϊκό οξύ (noukleïkó oxý)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Hungarian nukleinsav
- nukleinsavacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Icelandic kjarnsýra
- kjarnsýraacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Indonesian asam nukleat
- asam nukleatacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Irish aigéad núicléasach
- aigéad núicléasachacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Italian acido nucleico
- acido nucleicoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Japanese 核酸
- 核酸 (kakusan)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Korean 핵산
- 핵산 (haeksan)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Malay asid nukleik
- asid nukleikacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Norwegian Bokmål nukleinsyre
- nukleinsyreacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Polish kwas nukleinowy
- kwas nukleinowyacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Portuguese ácido nucleico
- ácido nucleicoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Romanian acid nucleic
- acid nucleicacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Russian нуклеи́новая кислота́
- нуклеи́новая кислота́ (nukleínovaja kislotá)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Slovak nukleová kyselina
- nukleová kyselinaacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Spanish ácido nucleico
- ácido nucleicoacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Swedish nukleinsyra
- nukleinsyraacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Thai กรดนิวคลีอิก
- กรดนิวคลีอิก (gròt-niu-klii-ìk)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Ukrainian нуклеї́нова кислота́
- нуклеї́нова кислота́ (nuklejínova kyslotá)acidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Vietnamese axit nucleic
- axit nucleicacidic chainlike biological macromolecule
Cite this entry
APA
nucleic acid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nucleic%20acid
MLA
“nucleic acid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nucleic%20acid. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nucleic acid,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nucleic%20acid.
Source: nucleic acid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.