eukaryote
noun
eu·kary·ote (ˌ)yü-ˈker-ē-ˌōt 
-ət -ˈka-rē-
-ət -ˈka-rē- variants or less commonly eucaryote
: any of a domain (Eukarya) or a higher taxonomic group (Eukaryota) above the kingdom that includes organisms composed of one or more cells containing visibly evident nuclei and organelles compare archaea, bacterium, prokaryote
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In a fateful encounter, a cyanobacterium was engulfed by a eukaryote, a cell that had evolved the capacity for internal organs, and lived on within its membrane. 
Lucy Jakub, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2020 But a deeper mystery surrounds the emergence of the nucleus; no one even knows whether that ancient archaeon was already a kind of proto-eukaryote with a nucleus, or whether the nucleus came later. Quanta Magazine, 25 Nov. 2020 Evolutionary biologists have long puzzled over how eukaryotes could have evolved from such simple precursors. Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2020 The fragments contained genes from a species of archaea that seemed to be closely related to eukaryotes. Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2020 In contrast to eukaryotes, which all have a suite of organelles in common, different groups of prokaryotes showcase their own specialized compartments. Quanta Magazine, 27 Aug. 2019 Currently, all life is divided into either bacteria, archaea, or eukaryote (complex life), but the discovery of the Asgard archaea suggests that archaea and eukaryotes could be lumped into one group. Danielle Hall, Smithsonian, 20 Apr. 2010 Researchers call this type of evolutionary merger between two eukaryotes a secondary endosymbiosis. Viviane Callier, Smithsonian, 23 Oct. 2019 But new geological evidence uncovered by scientists at McGill University in Montreal has found that glacial meltwater provided a crucial lifeline at the time tomicroscopic organisms known as eukaryotes. Katie Hunt, CNN, 3 Dec. 2019 See More
Lucy Jakub, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2020 But a deeper mystery surrounds the emergence of the nucleus; no one even knows whether that ancient archaeon was already a kind of proto-eukaryote with a nucleus, or whether the nucleus came later. Quanta Magazine, 25 Nov. 2020 Evolutionary biologists have long puzzled over how eukaryotes could have evolved from such simple precursors. Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2020 The fragments contained genes from a species of archaea that seemed to be closely related to eukaryotes. Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2020 In contrast to eukaryotes, which all have a suite of organelles in common, different groups of prokaryotes showcase their own specialized compartments. Quanta Magazine, 27 Aug. 2019 Currently, all life is divided into either bacteria, archaea, or eukaryote (complex life), but the discovery of the Asgard archaea suggests that archaea and eukaryotes could be lumped into one group. Danielle Hall, Smithsonian, 20 Apr. 2010 Researchers call this type of evolutionary merger between two eukaryotes a secondary endosymbiosis. Viviane Callier, Smithsonian, 23 Oct. 2019 But new geological evidence uncovered by scientists at McGill University in Montreal has found that glacial meltwater provided a crucial lifeline at the time tomicroscopic organisms known as eukaryotes. Katie Hunt, CNN, 3 Dec. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
New Latin Eukaryotes, proposed subdivision of protists, from eu- + kary- + -otes, plural noun suffix, from Greek -ōtos — more at -otic
First Known Use
1943, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
eukaryote
noun
eu·kary·ote
variants also eucaryote
(ˈ)yü-ˈkar-ē-ˌōt -ē-ət
-ē-ət : any of a domain (Eukarya) or a higher taxonomic group (Eukaryota) above the kingdom that includes organisms composed of one or more cells containing visibly evident nuclei and organelles compare prokaryote