-cytecomb. form
Primary stress is retained by the usual stressed syllable of the preceding element and vowels may be reduced accordingly.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French -cyte.
Etymology: < French -cyte (formations in which are found from the mid 19th cent.; earliest in myélocyte myelocyte n.) < ancient Greek κύτος hollow, receptacle (see cyto- comb. form). Compare German -cyt , -zyt (formations in which are found from the second half of the 19th cent.; compare Phagocyt phagocyte n.). Compare earlier cyto- comb. form.Earliest in the mid 19th cent. in an adaptation of a French word (see myelocyte n.); independent formations are found in the second half of the 19th cent. (e.g. pneumocyte n., megalocyte n.). Combined with first elements ultimately of Greek (or occasionally Latin) origin.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2021).