Skip to content

cells

cells

noun SELS Rare

Origin: English loanword used in scientific contexts.

Usage Note

Cells appears in Spanish scientific and medical writing as an unadapted English borrowing, almost always in the compound stem cells alongside stem (id. 10466). Outside that fixed phrase, Spanish uses células. Its use reflects the dominance of English in biomedical publishing and conference discourse.

Examples

"Los investigadores estudian las stem cells."

Natural Translation

The researchers study stem cells.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic