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nucleotide

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Etymology and origin of the English word nucleotide

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1908 Journal of the Chemical Society More words from the 20th century
Borrowed from
German Nucleotid
Ultimate origin
Latin nucleus

Pronunciation

  • /ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/[1]
  • US: /ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/, /ˈn(j)u(ː)klioʊˌtaɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Nucleotid, now usually spelled Nukleotid, coined by P. A. Levene and J. A. Mandel in 1908;[2] Etymonline dates the German word to 1907.[3] It is formed from Nucleo-, the combining form seen in nucleo-, and the suffix -id (-ide), with an inserted -t-, perhaps after Peptid (“peptide”).[2] Collins and Etymonline explain the -t- as added for ease of pronunciation,[4][3] and Klein as inserted for euphony or under the influence of phosphatide.[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged treats it as a formation of the International Scientific Vocabulary.[6] The American Heritage Dictionary and Dictionary.com call it an alteration of nucleoside,[7][8] but the OED dates German Nucleosid only to 1909 and the English word to 1911.[2] The combining form is from Latin nucleus.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A compound made of a nucleoside whose sugar is linked to a phosphate group: 1908, in the Journal of the Chemical Society.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Etymonline also give 1908,[6][3] and Dictionary.com dates it 1905–10.[8]

Timeline

  • 1908 – a compound of a nucleoside and a phosphate group.[2][6][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (biochemistry) Any of a group of compounds made of a nucleoside joined to a phosphate group; long chains of them make up the nucleic acids DNA and RNA.[7][4][2][6]

Word family

  • deoxyribonucleotide
  • nucleotidase
  • dinucleotide
  • internucleotide
  • mononucleotide
  • oligonucleotide
  • polynucleotide
  • ribonucleotide

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Nucleotide.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/nucleotide. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·