nucleus
noun
Simple meaning
The positively charged dense center of an atom.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nookleeuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnukliəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
chemistryphysics
The positively charged dense center of an atom
chemistryphysics
The massive, positively charged central part of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons.
The core, central part of something, around which other elements are assembled.
cytology
A large membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells which contains genetic material.
An initial part or version that will receive additions.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The positively charged dense center of an atom
Used this way, nucleus is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nucleus
- “The nucleus is the central part of an atom.”
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: positively charged dense center of an atom
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.