unicellular

[ yoo-nuh-sel-yuh-ler ]

/ ˌyu nəˈsɛl yə lər /

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adjective

having or consisting of a single cell.

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Origin of unicellular

First recorded in 1855–60; uni- + cellular

OTHER WORDS FROM unicellular

u·ni·cel·lu·lar·i·ty, noun

Words nearby unicellular

Uniate, uniaxial, unibrow, unicameral, UNICEF, unicellular, unicellulate, Unicode, unicolor, unicolour, unicorn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use unicellular in a sentence

Such unicellular organisms generally are so small that we’d need a microscope to see them.
Explainer: Cells and their parts|Jennifer Junghans|March 8, 2022|Science News For Students
Protists and ArchaeaProtists are mostly unicellular, but are more complex than bacteria as they contain a nucleus.
All the Biomass on Earth - Issue 108: Change|Iman Ghosh|December 8, 2021|Nautilus
The first living organisms formed their hierarchies thus: individual unicellular, or plastide; group of plastides or meride.
The Natural Philosophy of Love|Remy de Gourmont
The multicellular organism was a colony of unicellular organisms, and its life was a sum of the lives of its constituent elements.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

They appertain to cells not yet differentiated, to the unicellular organisms which occupy the first stages of life.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, January 1900|Various
Weismann deduces from this a radical distinction between the unicellular and the multicellular organisms.
The Wonders of Life|Ernst Haeckel
In the most primitive kinds of the unicellular protists we find the phenomena of death and regeneration in the simplest form.
The Wonders of Life|Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for unicellular

unicellular

/ (ˌjuːnɪˈsɛljʊlə) /

adjective

(of organisms, such as protozoans and certain algae) consisting of a single cell

Derived forms of unicellular

unicellularity, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for unicellular

unicellular

[ yōō′nĭ-sĕl′yə-lər ]

Having or consisting of a single cell. Compare multicellular.