Monera

[ muh-neer-uh ]

nounBiology.
  1. (in the five-kingdom system of taxonomic classification) the kingdom of prokaryotic organisms that include the bacteria and typically reproduce by asexual budding or fission, and that are nourished through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

Origin of Monera

1
First recorded in 1865–70; from New Latin, plural of monēron, coinage based on Greek monḗrēs “solitary, single,” derivative of mónos “alone, only”

Words Nearby Monera

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Monera in a sentence

  • The instructive Monera once more form a connecting bridge between the two realms.

    The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel
  • These and other writers suppose that the nucleus has been overlooked in the protoplasm of the Monera I have described.

    The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel
  • This comparison is inapplicable to the lowest organisms, the Monera, which are devoid of such a mechanical structure.

    The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel
  • A long gradation of cellular organization leads from the simplest primitive cells (Monera) to the highest developed protists.

    The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel
  • We find cœnobia of this kind even among the Monera, such as the zooglœa of many bacteria and chromacea.

    The Wonders of Life | Ernst Haeckel

Cultural definitions for Monera

Monera

[ (muh-neer-uh) (or Prokaryotae) ]


The kingdom of single-celled organisms without a cell nucleus (see also prokaryotes). Monera are the most primitive living things and are thought to have been the first to evolve.

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.