eukaryotic

American  

[yoo-kar-ee-ot-ik] / yuˌkær iˈɒt ɪk /

Sometimes eucaryotic

adjective

Biology.

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a eukaryote, an organism whose basic structural unit is a cell containing specialized organelles and a membrane-bound nucleus.

   Some scientists believe that the greatest transition of life in the history of Earth is the evolution of eukaryotic cellular life forms from more primitive prokaryotes.

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Etymology

Origin of eukaryotic

First recorded in 1955–60; eukaryot(e) ( def. ) + -ic ( def. )

Example Sentences

The alphaproteobacterium eventually evolved into the mitochondria, the structure inside eukaryotic cells that produces energy.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

"Our findings thus illuminate a central principle of eukaryotic stress biology," says Beckmann.

From Science Daily • Nov. 25, 2025

Even as researchers continue to ponder why the fork fern has such a vast genome, however, they doubt they’ll find many eukaryotic organisms with genomes that are substantially larger.

From Science Magazine • May 31, 2024

They also inhabit hot springs—places Andreas Weber, a biochemist at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, calls “time capsules that provide a window into early eukaryotic life.”

From Science Magazine • Apr. 8, 2024

Later, when the time is right, there may be fusion and symbiosis among the bits, and then we will see eukaryotic thought, metazoans of thought, huge interliving coral shoals of thought.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas