multicellular

American  

[muhl-tee-sel-yuh-ler, muhl-tahy-] / ˌmʌl tiˈsɛl jə lər, ˌmʌl taɪ- /

adjective

1. composed of several or many cells.

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multicellular Scientific  

/ mŭl′tē-sĕl′yə-lər /

1. Having or consisting of many cells.

2. Compare unicellular

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Etymology

Origin of multicellular

First recorded in 1855–60; multi- + cellular

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Explanation

Something that's multicellular is a complex organism, made up of many cells. Humans are multicellular. While single-celled organisms can't usually be seen without a microscope, you can see most multicelluar organisms with the naked eye. Plants and animals are multicellular — although they all, including humans, start as a single cell that reproduces into many. Multi means "many," and the Latin root of cellular is cellularis, "of little cells," from cella, "small room."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

multicellular

Anisogamy is one of the most fundamental facts of life: Sexual reproduction is anisogamous in all animals and almost all multicellular plants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Together, they found that Anabaena, and likely other multicellular cyanobacteria, have undergone a major evolutionary shift.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 20, 2026

Though Jablonski is more bullish on the survival prospects of unicellular life, there is some comfort for the multicellular among us too.

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2025

By the beginning of the Cambrian explosion of multicellular organisms about 540 million years ago, the ancestors of today’s ecdysozoans were already alive and varied in form and behavior, suggesting they arose even earlier.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 20, 2024

With this, we were off to an explosive developmental stage in which great varieties of respiring life, including the multicellular forms, became feasible.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

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