# cell
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophones: cel, sell
* Rhymes: -ɛl

### Etymology 1

From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall.

#### Noun

cell (plural cells)
* A single-room dwelling for a hermit. [from 10th c.]
** 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:So, taking them apart into his cell, / He to that point fit speaches gan to frame […].
** 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, section IV:For three days he and his attendants had wandered in the forest without seeing a human form: but on the evening of the third they came to a cell, in which they found a venerable hermit in the agonies of death.
* (now historical) A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger religious establishment. [from 11th c.]
* A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person. [from 14th c.]
    Gregor Mendel must have spent a good amount of time outside of his cell.
** 2002, Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife, Phoenix (2012), page 315:A nunʼs bedroom is properly called a cell and is small, bare, and plain, without comfort.
* A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates. [from 18th c.]
    Synonym: prison cell
    The combatants spent the night in separate cells.
* Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb. [from 14th c.]
* (biology, now chiefly botany) Any of various chambers in a tissue or organism having specific functions. [from 14th c.]
** 1858, Asa Gray, Introduction to Structural and Systematic Botany, fifth edition, p. 282:Each of the two cells or lobes of the anther is marked with a lateral line or furrow, running from top to bottom […].
* (entomology) The discal cell of the wing of a lepidopteran insect.
* (obsolete) Specifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories. [14th–19th c.]
** 1782–1785, William Cowper, “(please specify the page)”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC:How soft the music of those village bells / […] With easy force it opens all the cells / Where mem'ry slept.
** 1794, Mary Wollstonecraft, An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution:[W]e shall feel still more contempt for the order of men, who cultivated their faculties, only to enable them to consolidate their power, by leading the ignorant astray; making the learning they concentrated in their cells, a more polished instrument of oppression.
** 1890, Oscar Wilde, chapter XVI, in The Picture of Dorian Gray:From cell to cell of his brain crept the one thought; and the wild desire to live, most terrible of all man's appetites, quickened into force each trembling nerve and fibre.
* A section or compartment of a larger structure. [from 16th c.]
* (obsolete, chiefly literary) Any small dwelling; a remote nook, a den. [16th–19th c.]
** 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:Thou seest but the order and policie of this little Cell [translating caveau] wherein thou art placed […].
** 1810, Walter Scott, “Canto II. The Island.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):Not long shall honour'd Douglas dwell, / Like hunted stag, in mountain-cell […].
* A device which stores electrical power; used either singly or together in batteries; the basic unit of a battery. [from 19th c.]
    This MP3 player runs on 2 AAA cells.
* (biology) The basic unit of a living organism, consisting of a quantity of protoplasm surrounded by a cell membrane, which is able to synthesize proteins and replicate itself. [from 19th c.]
** 1999 February 15, Paul Brown, Dave King, The Guardian:An American company has applied to experiment in Britain on Parkinson's disease sufferers by injecting their brains with cells from pigs.
** 2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 3:In multicellular organisms, groups of cells form tissues and tissues come together to form organs.
* (meteorology) A small thunderstorm, caused by convection, that forms ahead of a storm front. [from 20th c.]
    There is a powerful storm cell headed our way.
* (cellular automata) The minimal unit of a cellular automaton that can change state and has an associated behavior. [from 20th c.]
    The upper right cell always starts with the color green.
** 1988 January 26, David Hiebeler, “Fast way to update grids”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet):Basically, I'm looking for a fast (the fastest?) way of updating grids, where each cell has to look at an arbitrary number of its neighbors.
** 2010 March 10, Jean H., “What is CA for?”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet):It is used for land-use change simulations, where the content of the cells surrounding a central cell defines how this cell is going to evolve (for example, a cell that is "agriculture" but has 3 urban neighbors will likely become urban, while if it is surrounded by forest or other agriculture cells, it will remain agriculture.)
** 2022 February 11, Mateon1, “Game of Life with real 8 neighbors”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet):I've seen this space colloqually referred to as MAP (presumably since it maps a 3x3 neighborhood into a future cell state)
* (card games) In FreeCell-type games, a space where one card can be placed.
* A small group of people forming part of a larger organization, often an outlawed one. [from 20th c.]
    Those three fellows are the local cell of that organization.
** 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Salarians: Special Tasks Group Codex entry:Salarian intelligence field agents are grouped into an organization called the Special Tasks Group. STG operators work in independent cells, performing dangerous missions such as counter-terrorism, infiltration, reconnaissance, assassination, and sabotage.
* (communication) A short, fixed-length packet, as in asynchronous transfer mode. [from 20th c.]
    Virtual Channel number 5 received 170 cells.
* (communication) A region of radio reception that is a part of a larger radio network.
    I get good reception in my home because it is near a cell tower.
* (geometry) A three-dimensional facet of a polytope.
* (statistics) The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.
* (architecture) The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof.
* (architecture) A cella.
* (entomology) An area of an insect wing bounded by veins.

##### Usage notes

In the sense of an electrical device, "cell" is the technically correct name for a single unit of battery-type power storage, whereas a battery is a device comprising multiple of them, though it is often used for simple cells.

##### Quotations

* For quotations using this term, see Citations:cell.

##### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:cell

##### Derived terms

* 120-cell
* 16-cell
* 24-cell
* 57-cell
* 5-cell
* 600-cell
* 8-cell
* absorption cell
* air cell
* alpha cell
* angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma
* antigen-presenting cell
* APUD cell
* attocell
* band cell
* barycell
* basal cell
* basal cell carcinoma
* basket cell
* battery cell
* B-cell
* B cell
* Bénard cell
* beta cell
* Betz cell
* biological fuel cell
* bipolar cell
* bite cell
* black queen cell virus
* blast cell
* blister cell
* blood cell
* blood-cell
* brain cell
* brood cell
* bulliform cell
* Bunsen cell
* burr cell
* button cell
* cancer cell
* caudodorsal cell hormone
* cell adhesion molecule
* cell-adhesion molecule
* cellblock
* cell block
* cell body
* cellbound
* cellco
* cell count
* cell cycle
* cell death
* cell division
* cell-free
* cellful
* cell group
* cellhouse
* cell house
* cellie
* celliferous
* celliform
* cellless
* cell line
* cellmate
* cell-mediated immune response
* cell-mediated immunity
* cell membrane
* cell nucleus
* cell of Deiters
* cellome
* cell-phone
* cell phone lot
* cell plate
* cell sap
* cell shading
* cellspot
* cell theory
* cell therapy
* cell type
* cell up
* cell-wall
* cell wall
* cellwide
* cellwise
* cellwork
* celly
* cell yell
* character cell
* chemical cell
* chief cell
* Chinese hamster ovary cell
* chloragogen cell
* CHO cell
* Clara cell
* Clark cell
* club cell
* coin cell
* companion cell
* concentration cell
* cone cell
* cons cell
* convection cell
* counting cell hemocytometer
* crowfoot cell
* cytolytic T cell
* cytotoxic T cell
* Daniell cell
* daughter cell
* death cell
* Deiters' cell
* delta cell
* dendritic cell
* detention cell
* diamond anvil cell
* diaphragm cell
* diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
* Downey cell
* Downs cell
* dry cell
* dry cell battery
* egg cell
* electrochemical cell
* enzymatic fuel cell
* fat cell
* femtocell
* Ferrata cell
* flame cell
* flow cell
* foam cell
* follicular dendritic cell
* free cell formation
* fuel cell
* fuel cell vehicle
* galvanic cell
* geocell
* germ cell
* glial cell
* glue cell
* goblet cell
* grand 600-cell
* grandmother cell
* granular cell tumor
* granule cell
* grape cell
* gravity cell
* grid cell
* Grove cell
* guard cell
* Hadley cell
* hair cell
* hairy cell
* half cell
* half-cell
* Hargreaves-Bird cell
* HeLa cell
* helper T cell
* hematopoietic cell
* holding cell
* Hooker cell
* host cell
* hot cell
* hypercell
* immune cell
* inner cell mass
* intercell
* intracell
* intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell
* IT cell
* jail cell
* Jurkat cell
* K-cell
* k-cell
* Kenyon cell
* Kerr cell
* killer T cell
* koniocellular cell
* Kupffer cell
* Langerhans cell
* lasso cell
* Leclanché cell
* Leydig cell
* light green cell hormone
* load cell
* local cell
* macrocell
* macroglial cell
* magnocellular cell
* mast cell
* mastoid cell
* M-cell
* megaspore mother cell
* melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cell
* memory B cell
* memory cell
* memory T cell
* Merkel cell
* Merkel-Ranvier cell
* metacell
* Mexican hat cell
* microbial fuel cell
* microcell
* mid cell
* midcell
* midget cell
* minicell
* mitral cell
* morula cell
* mossy cell
* mother cell
* Mott cell
* multicell
* myeloid cell
* nanocell
* natural killer cell
* nerve cell
* nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome
* nevoid basal-cell carcinoma syndrome
* noncell
* oat cell
* obcell
* padded cell
* Paget cell
* palisade cell
* Paneth cell
* parasol cell
* parietal cell
* parvocellular cell
* pavement cell
* P-cell
* photo-cell
* photocell
* photoconductive cell
* photoelectric cell
* photoemissive cell
* photosensitive retinal ganglion cell
* photovoltaic cell
* picocell
* place cell
* plasma cell
* PMN cell
* polycell
* precell
* prickle cell
* primary cell wall
* primordial cell
* prison cell
* progenitor cell
* programmed cell death
* protocell
* pseudocell
* Purkinje cell
* pyramidal cell
* queen cell
* radial glial cell
* red blood cell
* red blood cell cast
* red cell
* Reed-Sternberg cell
* renal cell carcinoma
* Renshaw cell
* reproductive cell
* rod cell
* satellite cell
* Schwann cell
* secondary cell wall
* selenium cell
* semicell
* sensel
* Sertoli cell
* sex cell
* sickle cell
* sickle-cell anaemia
* sickle cell anaemia
* sickle-cell anemia
* sickle-cell disease
* sickle cell trait
* sieve cell
* single-celling
* skin cell
* sleeper cell
* small-cell carcinoma
* smudge cell
* solar cell
* somatic cell
* somatic cell nuclear transfer
* sperm cell
* spindle cell
* spur cell
* stab cell
* stellate cell
* stem-cell
* stem cell
* stone cell
* storage cell
* strip cell
* subcell
* supercell
* supergranulation cell
* target cell
* T-cell
* T cell
* terror cell
* T helper cell
* tracheid cell
* trophic cell
* Türk cell
* unicell
* unit cell
* vegetative cell
* Virchow's cell
* virocell
* voltaic cell
* Vorce cell
* Voronoi cell
* Walthard cell rest
* water cell
* Weston cell
* wet cell
* white blood cell
* white-cell
* white cell
* Wigner-Seitz cell
* zombie cell

##### Related terms

* cellar
* cellular
* cellule

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Verb

cell (third-person singular simple present cells, present participle celling, simple past and past participle celled)
* (transitive) To place or enclose in a cell.
** 1586, William Warner, Albion's England:Myself a recluse from the world, And celled under ground, Lest that the gould, the precious stones, And pleasures, here be found

### Etymology 2

Ellipsis of cell phone, itself a clipping of cellular phone, from cellular +‎ phone.

#### Noun

cell (plural cells)
* (US, New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, informal) A cellular phone.

##### Usage notes

* Widely used attributively.

##### Translations
### Further reading

* “cell”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “cell”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “cell”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* Cell in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

## Dutch
### Etymology

Clipping of cellulair or borrowed directly from English cell.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛl/
* Hyphenation: cell

### Noun

cell m (plural cells, diminutive celltje n)
* (Suriname, colloquial) cellular phone, mobile phone
    Synonyms: (Belgium) gsm, (Netherlands) mobiel
** 2001, Alex van Stipriaan, “Contact! Marrons en de transport- en communicatierevolutie in het Surinaamse binnenland [Contact! Maroons and the transport and communication revolution in Suriname's hinterland]”, in OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinaamse taalkunde, letterkunde en geschiedenis‎, page 41:Door de ‘cell’ is het mogelijk de banden met verwanten elders innig te houden of zelfs te herstellen.The mobile phone makes it possible to keep close ties with relatives elsewhere or even to restore them.

#### Derived terms

* cellnummer

## French
### Etymology

Clipping of cellulaire; influenced by North American English cell

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛl/

### Noun

cell m (plural cells)
* (Quebec, colloquial) cellular phone, mobile phone; clipping of téléphone cellulaire.
    Synonyms: portable, téléphone portable, téléphone cellulaire, cellulaire, téléphone mobile, mobile

## Middle English
### Noun

cell
* Alternative form of celle

## Old Irish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cella.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kʲel͈/

### Noun

cell f
* church

#### Inflection

* $^H$ = triggers aspiration
* $^L$ = triggers lenition
* $^N$ = triggers nasalization

#### Descendants

* Irish: cill
* Manx: keeill
* Scottish Gaelic: cill

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cell”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Latin cella

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

cell c
* cell; a room in a prison.
* Cell; a room in a monastery for sleeping one person.
* Cell; a small group of people forming part of a larger organization.
* (biology) Cell; the basic unit of a living organism.
* (biology) Cell; a cavity in a structure such as a honeycomb.
* (computing) Cell; a minimal unit of a cellular automaton.

#### Derived terms

* blodcell
* bränslecell
* cancercell
* cellandning
* cellbildning
* cellbiologi
* celldelning
* celldöd
* cellforskning
* cellfängelse
* cellfönster
* cellförändring
* cellgift
* cellgiftsbehandling
* cellgummi
* cellkamrat
* cellklump
* cellkärna
* cellmembran
* cellplast
* cellprov
* cellskräck
* cellstoff
* celltyp
* cellull
* cellvägg
* cellvävnad
* cellära
* dödscell
* ensamcell
* epitelcell
* fettcell
* fotocell
* fyllecell
* fångcell
* fängelsecell
* gangliecell
* gliacell
* hancell
* hjärncell
* honcell
* hudcell
* isoleringscell
* jästcell
* kerrcell
* klostercell
* kroppscell
* könscell
* levercell
* lyocell
* mastcell
* minnescell
* modercell
* munkcell
* muskelcell
* mördarcell
* nervcell
* nässelcell
* selencell
* sinnescell
* solcell
* stamcell
* syncell
* sädescell
* terrorcell
* terroristcell
* tillnyktringscell
* tumörcell
* urcell
* värdcell
* växtcell
* äggcell

#### Related terms

* cellulas
* cellulit
* celluloid
* cellulosa
* cellulär

### References

* cell in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* cell in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* cell in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

## Welsh
### Etymology

From Middle Welsh kell, from Proto-Brythonic *kell, from Latin cella.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kɛɬ/

### Noun

cell f (plural celloedd, diminutive cellan)
* cell

#### Derived terms

* cell waed (“blood cell”)
* cellbilen (“cell membrane”)
* cellfur (“cell wall”)
* cellog (“cellular”)
* cellraniad (“cell division”)
* claddgell (“burial chamber”)
* cuddgell (“crypt”)
* gwaetgel (“blood cell”)
* llyfrgell (“library”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.