organelle

noun

or·​gan·​elle ˌȯr-gə-ˈnel 

: a specialized cellular part (such as a mitochondrion, chloroplast, or nucleus) that has a specific function and is considered analogous to an organ

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

In the future, scientists predict , the two will be inseparable; the alga will engulf the bacterium, the bacterium will lose its individual identity and, instead, live as an organelle within the algal cell. —Ashley P. Taylor, Discover Magazine, 22 Sep. 2012

Both the shaft and the filament are inside out and neatly folded into the tiny organelle. —Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2022

For years, vision scientists couldn’t make sense of this odd placement of these organelles — after all, most cells have their mitochondria hugging their center organelle, the nucleus. —Quanta Magazine, 5 Apr. 2022

Chloroplasts, the organelles that host photosynthesis, have their own DNA, including a gene for D1, and most biologists assumed the protein had to be made there. —Erik Stokstad, Science | AAAS, 21 Apr. 2020

In fact, the parasite was missing a critical organelle all together. 10. —Remy Tumin, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2020

Further tests confirmed it — there was no mitochondrial genome at all, and hence no chance of the organism functioning the way researchers had expected, although there did seem to be a loose sac that might once have been the organelle. —Veronique Greenwood, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2020

Moreover, the cellular organs (organelles) and skeletal proteins arranged themselves around the nuclei, creating compartments that, to Cheng, resembled a sheet of skin cells. —Quanta Magazine, 2 Jan. 2020

In this case, because lots of ATP must be produced over extended periods of time, the muscle cells rely on their organelles called mitochondria. —Joshua Selsby, CNN, 27 Nov. 2019

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Word History

Etymology

New Latin organella, from Latin organum

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

organelle

noun

or·​gan·​elle ˌȯr-gə-ˈnel 

: a structure (as a mitochondrion) in a cell that performs a special function

Medical Definition

organelle

noun

or·​gan·​elle ˌȯr-gə-ˈnel 

: a specialized cellular part (as a mitochondrion or nucleus) that has a specific function and is considered analogous to an organ