cellular

The word “cellular” means relating to, made up of, or resembling biological cells. In plain terms, to do with living cells — or, separately, to do with mobile phone networks.

“Cellular” is pronounced SEHL-yoo-luh (/ˈsɛl.ju.lɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “cellular” used in a sentence: “The disease causes cellular damage over time.”

“Cellular” is an adjective.

The word “cellular” comes from New Latin. From New Latin cellularis, from cellula, "small cell.".

“Cellular” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Cellular” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: relating to, made up of, or resembling biological cells.

Cellular, common in American English, describes phones that connect through networks of radio cells, and it means much the same as mobile, the term more usual in British English. Both refer to the same wireless phone technology, and the difference is largely regional vocabulary.

Cellular data travels over a carrier's mobile phone network using cell towers and usually counts against a data plan. Wi-Fi connects a device to a local wireless network linked to the internet, typically without using carrier data. Both provide internet access but through different networks.

In biology, cellular refers to the level of whole cells and their structures and activities, while molecular refers to the smaller scale of molecules such as DNA and proteins inside cells. Cellular biology studies cells as units; molecular biology focuses on the molecules that drive them.

Cellular appears in set phrases such as cellular network, cellular data, and cellular service in the phone sense, and cellular structure, cellular respiration, and cellular level in the biological sense. The surrounding words usually make clear which meaning is intended.