nucleosome

Etymology

From nucleo- +‎ -some, and to evoke the older name nu body. Coined by P. Oudet et al. in 1975 (see quotation below).

Noun

nucleosome (plural nucleosomes)

1. (genetics) Any of the subunits that repeat in chromatin; a coil of DNA surrounding a histone core.
   • 1975, “Electron Microscopic and Biochemical Evidence that Chromosome Structure Is a Repeating Unit”, in Cell, PMID 1122558, page 9:

     We have termed these particles “nucleosomes,” to evoke their nuclear origin and their resemblance to the “nu” (ν) bodies described by Olins and Olins (1974).