prokaryotes

[ (proh-kar-ee-oht) ]


Organisms whose cells do not have a nucleus in which DNA is housed and which lack many of the organelles found in more advanced cells. The kingdom of Monera or Prokaryotae is composed of single-celled prokaryotes. (Compare eukaryotes.)

Notes for prokaryotes

It is thought that prokaryotes were the first cells to appear on Earth.

Words Nearby prokaryotes

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.