That's almost right! While the term "cell" was first used to describe the basic units of life, it wasn't scientists who initially coined the term.

Here's the breakdown:

* Robert Hooke in 1665 was the first to use the term "cell" to describe the small compartments he observed in a thin slice of cork under a microscope. He thought they resembled the small rooms monks lived in, which were called "cells."

* Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist, later observed living cells in pond water using his own improved microscopes.

So, while Hooke's initial discovery paved the way for understanding cells as fundamental units of life, it wasn't scientists as a collective who coined the term. It was Robert Hooke who, through his observations, gave us the word "cell" to describe these tiny building blocks of life.