Tumallinen

Tumallinen is a Finnish adjective meaning having a nucleus. It is formed from the noun tuma, which means nucleus, with the suffix -llinen, used in Finnish to indicate that something possesses a certain quality. In scientific contexts, tumallinen is used to describe cells or organisms that contain a nucleus, i.e., eukaryotes.

In biology, the term is common for distinguishing nucleated cells from those that lack a nucleus. The opposite form is tumaton, used for cells or organisms without a nucleus, such as many prokaryotes. In cytology and histology, one might encounter phrases like tumallinen solu to denote a nucleated cell; a typical example is that most plant and animal cells are tumallisia, whereas mature mammalian red blood cells are anucleate.

Outside scientific contexts, tumallinen is rarely used, and if it appears in non-technical language, it is often metaphorical or limited to educational or descriptive writing. The core meaning remains tied to the presence of a nucleus, rather than to color or other attributes.

See also: tuma; tumaton; eukaryootti; prokaryootti.