archaeon

Scientific Latin, corresponding to a singular form of Archaea.

archaeon (plural archaeons or archaea)

1. A prokaryotic organism; a member of the domain Archaea [from 20th c.]
   • 2020 January 15, Hannah Devlin, The Guardian:

     Then, the theory goes, a rogue archaeon gobbled up a bacterium to create an entirely new type of cell that would go on to form the basis of all complex life on Earth, from plants to humans.

• archaebacterium (obsolete)

• extremophile

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [arˈkʰae̯.ɔn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [arˈkɛː.on]

archaeon n (genitive archaeī); second declension

1. archaeon

Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).