nucleosome

From nucleo- +‎ -some, and to evoke the older name nu body. Coined by P. Oudet et al. in 1975 (see quotation below).

nucleosome (plural nucleosomes)

1. (genetics) Any of the subunits that repeat in chromatin; a coil of DNA surrounding a core of eight histones.
   • 1975, P. Oudet, M. Gross-Bellard, P.Champon, “Electron Microscopic and Biochemical Evidence that Chromosome Structure Is a Repeating Unit”, in Cell, →PMID, page 9:

     We have termed these particles “nucleosomes,” to evoke their nuclear origin and their resemblance to the “nu” (ν) bodies described by Olins and Olins (1974).