Meaning & use
prokaryotic
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounbiology
Describing a cell or organism, such as a bacterium, whose genetic material is not enclosed in a nucleus.
Grammar: Often before cell or organism: a prokaryotic cell.
Patterns
- a prokaryotic cell
- prokaryotic organisms
Bacteria are prokaryotic, so their DNA floats in the cell instead of inside a nucleus.
A prokaryotic cell is usually much smaller than an animal cell.
Students compared prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells under the microscope.
Common combinations
- prokaryotic cell
- A prokaryotic cell has no nucleus.
- prokaryotic organism
- Each prokaryotic organism is a single cell.
- prokaryotic DNA
- Prokaryotic DNA is often a single circular chromosome.
- prokaryotic ribosome
- Antibiotics may target the prokaryotic ribosome.
- prokaryotic life
- Prokaryotic life existed long before animals.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bacterial
- Bacterial refers only to bacteria, while prokaryotic also covers archaea.
- nucleus-free
- Nucleus-free is an informal description and lacks the scientific precision of prokaryotic.
- single-celled
- Single-celled says only that there is one cell, and plenty of single-celled organisms are not prokaryotic.
Opposites
Word family
- prokaryote noun
- a single-celled organism without a nucleus
- eukaryote noun
- an organism whose cells have a nucleus
- eukaryotic adjective
- having cells with a nucleus
- karyotype noun
- the chromosome set of a cell
Commonly confused: prokaryotic or eukaryotic?
prokaryotic vs eukaryotic
Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus, whereas prokaryotic cells do not, so the two are opposites.
Practice
A cell with no nucleus, such as a bacterium, is classified as ____.
Choose one answer.
Prokaryotic cells have no nucleus. Eukaryotic cells have one, and multicellular and embryonic describe other features.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prokaryotic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.