nuclealadj.
/ˈnjuːklɪəl/, U.S. /ˈn(j)ukliəl/ 1. Central in importance; pivotal, seminal. Cf. nuclear adj. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central
cardinal1440
material1603
primal1619
real1620
centrical1659
vital1659
essential1770
nucleal1826
key1832
pivotal1837
keystone1846
pivot1861
quintessential1901
central1902
core1962
1826 S. T. Coleridge Let. in Jrnl. Hist. Ideas (1983) 44 85 Come in what will, wafted from without by chance breezes, or attracted from within by the nucleal thought.
1884 T. Lloyd Stanley Outl. Future Relig. World 168 This instinctive idea or more refined principle..underlies all theories of all religions, and is their nucleal truth.
1917 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 14 246 To the historian there is the added interest of observing the ripening..of thought that was at least enigmatical to those of professional philosophic training at the time when the nucleal studies first appeared.
1924 Jrnl. Philos. 21 394 The separate fields of the sciences, radiating out from the nucleal points of contact of man and the world.
1964 P. Weiss God we Seek vii. 135 The common indispensable nucleal components and referent of all religions.
1972 G. R. J. Jones in H. P. R. Finberg Agrarian Hist. Eng. & Wales I. ii. 341 Tir corddlan, consisting of gardens cultivated year in and year out, constituted the Welsh equivalent of the regularly manured and cultivated infield recorded centuries later in many an Irish or Scottish hamlet. As such, tir corddlan can perhaps be best described as nucleal land.
2. Centrally placed; forming a (material) central core; esp. acting as a nucleus around which something develops or collects. Cf. nuclear adj. 1. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > central condition or position > [adjective] > of the nature of a nucleus
nuclear1822
nucleal1840
nucleary1849
1840 B. H. Smart Walker Remodelled 385/1 Nucleus.., commonly that about which something is gathered... Hence, Nucleal, a.
1848 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 4) I. 34 Cells proceed from nucleal vesicles (Cytoblasts), inclosing dense mucilage, with one nucleolus or more.
1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. Introd. 1 The crystal..begins in a nucleal molecule.
1876 R. I. Dodge Black Hills 30 The oldest rocks, geologically, are the schists and slates which form the nucleal area of the Hills.
1876 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 5th Ser. 1 318 In the earliest stages of nucleal aggregation.
1895 J. M. Thomson & A. G. Bloxam Bloxam's Chem. (ed. 8) 595 It is supposed that the CO2H groups are differently situated with regard to a plane drawn through the two nucleal carbon atoms of the molecule.
1939 Sci. Monthly June 490/1 These granite bodies are the nuclei of the continent... Where the sediments [between them] are marine, we know that the waters of the sea flowed between the nucleal lands.
3. Of or relating to the nucleus of an atom. rare.
ΚΠ
1925 Jrnl. Philos. 22 205 If protons or nucleal electrons are lost, the character may be so radically changed that we count the result as a different element.
4. Biology. Designating Feulgen's method for staining material in the nuclei of cells, or the reaction on which it is based (see Feulgen n.).
ΚΠ
1928 Proc. Royal Soc. 1927–8 B. 102 401 I have carried out the ‘nucleal’ reaction with various tissues of the rat and mouse.
1958 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 45 299/1 This fact..has been confirmed by preparations..prepared by the Feulgen nucleal technique.
1985 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 310 125 Nuclear characteristics of the ciliates were studied using the Feulgen nucleal reaction.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1826