nucleus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈnʊ.kɫe.ʊs], [ˈnʊk.ɫe.ʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnuː.kle.us], [ˈnuk.le.us]^[1]

Forms

nucleus m (genitive nucleī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of nux “nut” with the suffix ⟨-leus⟩, with an irregular change from feminine to masculine.^[2][1][3] Plautus, Cato and Varro have the fuller form ⟨nuculeus⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, with the form nuculeus.^[2] Plautus' proverb runs quī ē nuce nuculeum ēsse vult, frangit nucem “he who wants to eat the kernel cracks the nut”.^[4][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the kernel of a nut, or the nut itself, and in Varro nucleus pīneus a pine nut.^[2] From Cato it meant the hard stone or pip in a fleshy fruit.^[2] Pliny uses it of a hard rounded nodule, and of the central part of anything, especially the hard layer under the surface of a pavement, and Pliny's nucleus amygdalae is an almond kernel.^[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a kernel.^[6] It survives in Italian nocciolo.^[1] English nucleus is recorded in 1704 as “kernel of a nut”, and in 1708 of the head of a comet.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses nuculeus.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a fruit stone.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it of a nodule and of a central layer.^[2][5]
• 1704 – English nucleus is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A kernel; a nut, nucleus pīneus, a pine nut.^[2]
2. A stone, pip.^[2]
3. A hard nodule.^[2]
4. The central part; the inner layer of a pavement.^[2]

Word family

• nucleō
• nucleolus
• nucleāris
• nucleātus

Related words

• nux
• English nucleus
• English nuclear

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com