Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

nucleotide

/ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.00 in modern English

Syllables: nu-cleo-tide
IPA: /ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/

13

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer molecules. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (or nucleobase), which can be either a double-ringed purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine; a five-carbon pentose sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA); and a phosphate group.

Example Sentences

"With a genome of only 400 million or so nucleotide bases, the pufferfish, Fugu rubripes rubripes, has the smallest known genome of any vertebrate animal. […] But the region of DNA between the landmarks can be a million or more nucleotides long."
"Magid draws […] a diagram depicting a restriction enzyme cutting neatly through a sequence of nucleotides."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *knuks Latin nux Latin nucleuslbor. English nucleus English nucleo- English -ide English nucleotide From nucleo- (“relating to the nucleus”) + -ide (“chemical suffix”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/

Inflected Forms

nucleotides (plural)

Derived Forms

antinucleotide binucleotide decanucleotide deoxynucleotide deoxyribonucleotide desoxynucleotide dideoxynucleotide dinucleotide dodecanucleotide duodecanucleotide ectonucleotide endonucleotide

Phrases

cyclic nucleotide diphosphopyridine nucleotide trinucleotide repeat disorder triphosphopyridine nucleotide

Frequently Paired Words

nucleoside nucleobase DNA RNA

Synonyms

base

Questions

How do you pronounce nucleotide?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/.
What does nucleotide mean?: The monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer molecules. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (or nucleobase), which can be either a double-ringed purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine; a five-carbon pentose sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA); and a phosphate group.
Where does nucleotide come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Italic *knuks Latin nux Latin nucleuslbor. English nucleus English nucleo- English -ide English nucleotide From nucleo- (“relating to the nucleus”) + -ide (“chemical suffix”).

How to pronounce nucleotide

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “nucleotide”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌtaɪd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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