before a vowel, cyt-, word-forming element, from Latinized form of Greek kytos "a hollow, receptacle, basket" (from PIE *ku-ti-, from root *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal"); used in modern science since c. 1859 for "cell," perhaps especially from the sense (in Aristophanes) of "a cell of a hive of wasps or bees."
Entries linking to cyto-
*(s)keu-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cover, conceal."
It forms all or part of: chiaroscuro; cunnilingus; custody; cutaneous; cuticle; -cyte; cyto-; hide (v.1) "to conceal;" hide (n.1) "skin of a large animal;" hoard; hose; huddle; hut; kishke; lederhosen; meerschaum; obscure; scum; skewbald; skim; sky.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit kostha "enclosing wall," skunati "covers;" Greek kytos "a hollow, vessel," keutho "to cover, to hide," skynia "eyebrows;" Latin cutis "skin," ob-scurus "dark;" Lithuanian kiautas "husk," kūtis "stall;" Armenian ciw "roof;" Russian kishka "gut," literally "sheath;" Old English hyd "a hide, a skin," hydan "to hide, conceal"; Old Norse sky "cloud;" Old English sceo "cloud;" Middle High German hode "scrotum;" Old High German scura, German Scheuer "barn;" Welsh cuddio "to hide."
-cyte
word-forming element used in modern science to mean "of a cell," from Latinized form of Greek kytos "a hollow, receptacle, basket" (see cyto-).