Mitochondrial

How to spell mitochondrial

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce mitochondrial

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mitochondrial mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to mitochondria, the structures inside cells that produce energy.

Mitochondrial in a sentence

• The lab sequenced mitochondrial DNA to trace the family line.

• A rare mitochondrial disorder left the patient with low energy levels.

Where does mitochondrial come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This is the adjective form of mitochondrion, the name for the tiny energy-producing structures inside living cells. The noun was coined in 1898 by the German microbiologist Carl Benda, who built it from two Greek words: mitos, meaning 'thread', and chondrion, meaning 'little grain' or 'small granule' (a diminutive of chondros, 'grain' or 'cartilage'). Benda chose the name because, under the microscope, these structures looked like threads strung with tiny beads. The adjective mitochondrial simply adds the Latin-derived ending -ial to describe anything relating to those organelles, such as mitochondrial DNA. The spelling trap lies in keeping the buried Greek pieces intact: 'mito' for thread and 'chondr' for grain, with that easily forgotten 'h' after the 'c'.

How the word is built

• mito- (from Greek mitos: thread)
• chondr- (from Greek chondrion: little grain)
• -ial (adjective suffix)