I.a little nut.
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.
