a small rounded body within a resting nucleus that contains RNA and proteins and is involved in the production of ribosomes
Also called: nucleole
Derived forms
nucleolar (ˌnucleˈolar) or nucleolate (ˈnucleoˌlate) or nucleolated (ˈnucleoˌlated)
adjective
Word origin
C19: from Latin, diminutive of nucleus
plasmosome in American English
(ˈplæzməˌsoum)
noun
Biology
a true nucleolus, as distinguished from a karyosome
Word origin
[1885–90; plasmo- + -some3]This word is first recorded in the period 1885–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: classified, retread, scrum, twofer, upsweep-some is a combining form meaning “body,” used in the formation of compound words. Otherwords that use the affix -some include: chromosome, episome, monosome, schistosome, trophosome