prokaryon Biol.
(prəʊˈkærɪən)
Pl. prokarya.
[f. Gr. προ- pro-2 + κάρυον nut, kernel; cf. prokaryote.]
The structure in a prokaryote which contains the genetic material; the prokaryotic ‘nucleus’.
| 1957 E. C. Dougherty in Jrnl. Protozool. IV. Suppl. 14/1 For the moneran nucleus I propose prokaryon.., and for that of higher organisms, eukaryon... From these derive..the nouns prokaryosis and eukaryosis and their corresponding adjectives, prokaryotic and eukaryotic.., denoting, respectively, ‘the condition of possessing prokarya or eukarya’. 1969 Brown & Bertke Textbk. Cytol. vi. 96/1 The more or less central region of indeterminate shape and no bounding membrane is sometimes called the nucleus but more properly the prokaryon. |