Vacuole
/ˈvæk.ju.oʊl/noun
A small membrane-bound sac in the cytoplasm of a cell that stores water, nutrients, or waste.
Did you know?Vacuole was coined in the 1870s from Latin vacuus, meaning “empty,” so the word literally frames a living cell structure as a small void.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weh₂-
“to be empty, void”
Latin
Latin
vacuus
“empty, unoccupied”
Late Latin
Latin
vacuola
“little empty space”
1870s
French/Scientific Latin
vacuole
“a small empty cavity or sac in plant tissue”
Modern English
English
vacuole
“a small membrane-bound sac inside a cell”