Word Roots

centro- = the center; -soma a body (centrosome: material present in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells and important during cell division)

chloro- = green (chloroplast: the site of photosynthesis in plants and eukaryotic algae)

cili- = hair (cilium: a short hair-like cellular appendage with a microtubule core)

cyto- = cell (cytosol: a semifluid medium in a cell in which are located organelles)

-ell = small (organelle: a small formed body with a specialized function found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells)

endo- = inner (endomembrane system: the system of membranes within a cell that includes the nuclear envelope, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, vacuoles, and the plasma membrane)

eu- = true (eukaryotic cell: a cell that has a true nucleus)

extra- = outside (extracellular matrix: the substance in which animal tissue cells are embedded)

flagell- = whip (flagellum: a long whip-like cellular appendage that moves cells)

glyco- = sweet (glycoprotein: a protein covalently bonded to a carbohydrate)

lamin- = sheet/layer (nuclear lamina: a netlike array of protein filaments that maintains the shape of the nucleus)

lyso- = loosen (lysosome: a membrane-bounded sac of hydrolytic enzymes that a cell uses to digest macromolecules)

micro- = small; -tubul a little pipe (microtubule: a hollow rod of tubulin protein in the cytoplasm of almost all eukaryotic cells)

nucle- = nucleus; -oid like (nucleoid: the region where the genetic material is concentrated in prokaryotic cells)

phago- = to eat; -kytos vessel (phagocytosis: a form of cell eating in which a cell engulfs a smaller organism or food particle)

plasm- = molded; -desma a band or bond (plasmodesmata: an open channel in a plant cell wall)

pro- = before; karyo- nucleus (prokaryotic cell: a cell that has no nucleus)

pseudo- = false; -pod foot (pseudopodium: a cellular extension of amoeboid cells used in moving and feeding)

thylaco- = sac or pouch (thylakoid: a series of flattened sacs within chloroplasts)

tono- = stretched; -plast molded (tonoplast: the membrane that encloses a large central vacuole in a mature plant cell)

trans- = across; -port a harbor (transport vesicle: a membranous compartment used to enclose and transport materials from one part of a cell to another)

ultra- = beyond (ultracentrifuge: a machine that spins test tubes at the fastest speeds to separate liquids and particles of different densities)

vacu- = empty (vacuole: sac that buds from the ER, Golgi, or plasma membrane)

©2005 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings