eukaryotic

American  

[yoo-kar-ee-ot-ik] / juˌkær 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. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

eukaryotic

The first evidence for eukaryotic life comes in the form of these fossils of single-celled organisms.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026

Anderson specializes in studying areas where enormous deposits of clay may have helped preserve ancient eukaryotic remains.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

By examining these structural and functional variations, researchers are gaining insight into how giant viruses diversified and how their interactions with host cells may have influenced the evolution of complex eukaryotic life.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026

More complex eukaryotic cells eventually evolved, giving rise to algae, fungi, plants and animals.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 6, 2025

They turn out to be little separate creatures, the colonial posterity of migrant prokaryocytes, probably primitive bacteria that swam into ancestral precursors of our eukaryotic cells and stayed there.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

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