I. Lit.

A. A nut; applied also to fruits resembling a nut: nucleus amygdalae, Plin. 15, 13, 12, 42: avellanae, id. 37, 4, 15, 56: pinearum nucum, id. 15, 10, 9, 35; cf. pineus, Cels. 2, 22.—Prov.: e nuce nuculeum qui esse vult, frangit nucem, he who would eat the kernel of a nut breaks the nut, i. e. he who desires an advantage should not shun the labor of earning it, Plaut. Curc. 1, 1, 55: nuculeum amisi, retinui pigneri putamina, I have lost the kernel and kept the shell, id. Capt. 3, 4, 122.—

B. The hard, uneatable kernel, the stone of fruits: nuculei olivarum, Plin. 37, 11, 73, 188: persicorum, id. 23, 7, 67, 132: cerasorum, id. 23, 7, 72, 141: lignosus nucleus, id. 13, 19, 34, 112: acini, id. 23, 1, 9, 13.—

II. Transf.

A. The kernel, the inner part, inside of a thing: nucleus gallae, Plin. 24, 4, 5, 10: myrrhae, id. 12, 16, 35, 70: allii, id. 19, 6, 34, 111: conchae, pearls, id. 9, 35, 55, 111.—

B. The kernel, i. e. the hardest, firmest, most solid part of a thing: pinguitudinis (terrae), Plin. 17, 6, 4, 42: ferri, id. 34, 14, 41, 144; 36, 25, 62, 187: insuper ex testā nucleus inducatur, Vitr. 7, 1.