Meanings
- not comparablebiologyDescribing any microorganism that has a single cell.
Synonyms: single-celled, monocellular · Antonyms: multicellular
plural unicellulars
- A single-celled organism; a unicell.
Among unicellulars, the rate of increase is beyond belief.
1931, Ezra Bowen, An hypothesis of population growth2 more examples
In unicellulars the uncoupling of the various nutritional and energy sources is much more widely spread.
1986, Johan A J Metz, O Diekmann, The dynamics of physiologically structured populationsMore or less distinct specialisation of reproductive elements in some unicellulars.
2006, J Arthur Thomson, Heredity
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDescribing any microorganism that has a single cell.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ís?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
- Proto-Italic*oinos
- Old Latinoinos
- Latinūnus
- Latinūni-
- Englishuni-
- Englishcellular
- Englishunicellular
Translations
Afrikaans eensellig
- eensellighaving a single cell
Bulgarian еднокле́тъчен
- еднокле́тъчен (ednoklétăčen)having a single cell
Catalan unicel·lular
- unicel·lularhaving a single cell
Chinese Mandarin 單細胞的 /单细胞的
- 單細胞的 /单细胞的 (dānxìbāo de)having a single cell
Czech jednobuněčný
- jednobuněčnýhaving a single cell
Danish encellet
- encellethaving a single cell
Dutch eencellig, eencellige
- eencellighaving a single cell
- eencelligesingle-celled organism
Finnish yksisoluinen
- yksisoluinenhaving a single cell
French unicellulaire
- unicellulairehaving a single cell
German einzellig, Einzeller
- einzellighaving a single cell
- Einzellersingle-celled organism
Greek μονοκύτταρος
- μονοκύτταρος (monokýttaros)having a single cell
Hindi एककोशिकीय
- एककोशिकीय (ekkośikīya)having a single cell
Hungarian egysejtű, egysejtű
- egysejtűhaving a single cell
- egysejtűsingle-celled organism
Irish aoncheallach
- aoncheallachhaving a single cell
Italian unicellulare
- unicellularehaving a single cell
Japanese 単細胞の
- 単細胞の (tansaibō no)having a single cell
Korean 단세포의
- 단세포의 (dansepoui)having a single cell
Latin ūnicellulāris
- ūnicellulārishaving a single cell
Malay براونيسيل, berunisel
- براونيسيلhaving a single cell
- beruniselhaving a single cell
- اونيسيلsingle-celled organism
- uniselsingle-celled organism
Māori pūtautahi, pūtautahi
- pūtautahihaving a single cell
- pūtautahisingle-celled organism
Norwegian Bokmål encellet, encella
- encellethaving a single cell
- encellahaving a single cell
Polish jednokomórkowy, jednokomórkowiec
- jednokomórkowyhaving a single cell
- jednokomórkowiecsingle-celled organism
Portuguese unicelular
- unicelularhaving a single cell
Romanian unicelular
- unicelularhaving a single cell
Russian однокле́точный, уницеллюля́рный
- однокле́точный (odnoklétočnyj)having a single cell
- уницеллюля́рный (unicelljuljárnyj)having a single cell
Slovak jednobunkový
- jednobunkovýhaving a single cell
Spanish unicelular
- unicelularhaving a single cell
Swedish encellig, encellig organism
- encellighaving a single cell
- encellig organismsingle-celled organism
Turkish tek hücreli, bir hücreli
- tek hücrelihaving a single cell
- bir hücrelihaving a single cell
Ukrainian однокліти́нний
- однокліти́нний (odnoklitýnnyj)having a single cell
Welsh ungellog
- ungellogsingle-celled organism
Cite this entry
unicellular. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unicellular
“unicellular.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unicellular. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unicellular,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unicellular.
Source: unicellular on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.