English
protocell
From proto- + cell.
Proto-Indo-European *pér ‘through’
Proto-Indo-European *pró ‘forwards, before’
Proto-Hellenic *pró
Ancient Greek πρό ‘before’
Ancient Greek πρῶτος ‘first’
English proto-
Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover’
…
Proto-Italic *kelnā
Latin cella ‘chamber, small room’
Old English cell
Middle English celle
English cell
Today it means
noun A self-organized, endogenously ordered, spherical collection of phospholipids proposed as a stepping-stone to the origin of life
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “protocell”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / protocell