Nucleosome

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of the subunits that repeat in chromatin; a coil of DNA surrounding a core of eight histones.

    "We have termed these particles “nucleosomes,” to evoke their nuclear origin and their resemblance to the “nu” (ν) bodies described by Olins and Olins (1974)."

Example

More examples

"We have termed these particles “nucleosomes,” to evoke their nuclear origin and their resemblance to the “nu” (ν) bodies described by Olins and Olins (1974)."

Etymology

From nucleo- + -some, and to evoke the older name nu body. Coined by P. Oudet et al. in 1975 (see quotation below).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.