phenotype

American  

[fee-nuh-tahyp] / ˈfi nəˌtaɪp /

noun

Genetics.

1. the observable constitution of an organism.

2. the appearance of an organism resulting from the interaction of the genotype and the environment.

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phenotype British  

/ ˌfiːnəʊˈtɪpɪk, ˈfiːnəʊˌtaɪp /

noun

1. the physical and biochemical characteristics of an organism as determined by the interaction of its genetic constitution and the environment Compare genotype

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phenotype Scientific  

/ fē′nə-tīp′ /

1. The physical appearance of an organism as distinguished from its genetic makeup. The phenotype of an organism depends on which genes are dominant and on the interaction between genes and environment.

2. Compare genotype

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phenotype Cultural  

1. The outward appearance of an organism; the expression of a genotype in the form of traits that can be seen and measured, such as hair or eye color.

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Other Word Forms

• phenotypic adjective
• phenotypical adjective
• phenotypically adverb

Etymology

Origin of phenotype

< German Phänotypus (1909); pheno-, -type

Compare meaning

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

• genotype vs. phenotype

Example Sentences

The finding, the authors said, is consistent with the "domestication syndrome phenotype".

From BBC

Introduced by our mutual friends, she was pitched to me as “tall and blond, with curly hair,” a historically winning phenotype for me, even if that “blond” mention was an elaborate brunette farce.

From Los Angeles Times

The paper, "Breast cancers that disseminate to bone marrow acquire aggressive phenotypes through CX43-related tumor-stroma tunnels," appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

From Science Daily

Despite these directional trends, however, ceratioids also displayed remarkable variability in body shapes from the archetypical globose anglerfish to elongated forms like the "wolftrap" phenotype, which features a jaw structure resembling a trap.

From Science Daily

"But if this stress stays there, which it does in the tumor microenvironment, the cells are just in continuous stress, and that will then lead to a very different phenotype and death," Mehrotra said.

From Science Daily