genotype

American  

[jen-uh-tahyp, jee-nuh-] / ˈdʒɛn əˌtaɪp, ˈdʒi nə- /

noun

Genetics.

1. the genetic makeup of an organism or group of organisms with reference to a single trait, set of traits, or an entire complex of traits.

2. the sum total of genes transmitted from parent to offspring.

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genotype British  

/ ˈdʒɛnəʊˌtaɪp /

noun

1. the genetic constitution of an organism

2. a group of organisms with the same genetic constitution

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genotype Scientific  

/ jĕn′ə-tīp′,jē′nə-tīp′ /

1. The genetic makeup of an organism as distinguished from its physical characteristics.

2. Compare phenotype

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genotype Cultural  

1. A combination of alleles situated on corresponding chromosomes that determines a specific trait.

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Usage

What is a genotype? A genotype is the genetic arrangement that makes up the traits that an organism inherited from its parents. Genotype can also mean the entire collection of genes an offspring inherited from its parents. In animals, a material known as DNA acts as the instructions that tell cells what to do. DNA is organized into incredibly long strands. Along these stands are sequences of base pairs that contain instructions to make specific proteins. These packets of instructions are what we call genes. Human beings have around 20,000 genes in their DNA. Most of these genes are identical in all humans. However, several genes can vary from person to person. We call these different genes alleles, which result in the physical differences we can see, such as eye or hair color. An allele is created when the genes that you inherited from your father and ones you inherited from your mother combine. Your genotype is your specific arrangement of alleles that have to do with a certain trait, such as eye color. For example, I have brown eyes. My eye color is a result of my genotype. I inherited eye color alleles from both my father and my mother. My father gave me the alleles for brown eyes (we’ll call this BR), and my mother also gave me the alleles for brown eyes (BR). My genotype, then, is BRBR, which is my two alleles combined together. My cells read these instructions, and this genotype results in me having my brown eyes.

Other Word Forms

• genotypicity
  noun
• genotypic
  adjective
• genotypical
  adjective
• genotypically
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of genotype

< German Genotypus (1909); see gene, -o-, -type

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Compare meaning

How does genotype compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• genotype vs. phenotype

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Explanation

The traits you have inherited are the result of your genotype, the makeup of your specific genes as passed on from your ancestors. As a verb, to genotype refers to the process of mapping the gene structure of an organism. The root word gene comes from the Greek genea, which means "generation or race." The word genus had been used since the 1550's as a scientific division, and in late 19th Century Germany, the word genotypus was coined to go along with early studies of genetics. This genetic mapping has yielded some interesting results. For example, a recent scientific study found, through genotyping, that the common ancestor of domestic dogs turned out to be Middle Eastern gray wolves.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

genotype

They examined how genotype, saturated fat consumption, diet type, and changes in LDL cholesterol from baseline to 6 months were related.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

"Instead of expecting one solution to work for everyone, it might be better to consider a variety of factors, including someone's genotype, gut microbiome, gender and age," Lin said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2025

It can be difficult keeping track of all the different short forms used to distinguish one genotype from another so scientists can keep track as the virus evolves.

From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2025

Higher case numbers are likely due to a number of factors, the agency has said, including "the emergence of an unusual norovirus genotype" and increased use of testing technology.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2025

How was the set of genetic instructions, the genotype, translated into the actual physical manifestations, the phenotype, of an organism?

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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