homology
Americannoun
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homologies
plural
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the state of being homologous; homologous relation or correspondence.
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Biology.
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a fundamental similarity based on common descent.
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a structural similarity of two segments of one animal based on a common developmental origin.
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Chemistry. the similarity of organic compounds of a series in which each member differs from its adjacent compounds by a fixed increment, as by CH 2 .
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Mathematics. a classification of figures according to certain topological properties.
noun
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the condition of being homologous
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chem the similarities in chemical behaviour shown by members of a homologous series
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zoology the measurable likenesses between animals, as used in grouping them according to the theory of cladistics
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A homologous relationship or correspondence.
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The relation of the chemical elements of a periodic family or group.
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The relation of the organic compounds forming a homologous series.
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A topological classification of configurations into distinct types that imposes an algebraic structure or hierarchy on families of geometric figures.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of homology
1650–60; < Greek homología agreement, equivalent to homólog ( os ) homologous + -ia -y 3
Explanation
A good example of homology is the wing of a bird and the flipper of a whale, which have the same evolutionary origin. Consequently, they're in a similar place on the body and have some similar characteristics. Homology exists between any distinct things that are the same in some important way. The word comes from Greek homologia, meaning "agreement"; the combining form homo- means “same." In biology, homology exists between parts or structures that are similar in some way, including having the same evolutionary origin. This is different from analogy, which is a similarity that doesn't have a common evolutionary origin — such as the analogy between a bird's wing and a mosquito's: Both are used for flying, but they developed by independent paths.
Vocabulary lists containing homology
Evolutionary Biology - High School
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Evolutionary Biology - Middle School
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: homo
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
However, homology between trunk somites and such head segments has been controversial.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 10, 2024
Mathematician Jose Perea of Northeastern University and a team of computational biologists used persistent homology to find periodic biological processes—those that repeat at regular intervals.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 26, 2022
The various metabolic processes and core functions in E. coli share homology with higher organisms.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Serpell and other scientists tend to characterize this position as an overcorrection, but those who espouse it often begin by questioning the homology between dogs and wolves.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2021
Arguments as to homology, based on derivation or non-derivation from the same embryonic layer, have therefore in themselves but little value.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various
Newer technologies can be used to help distinguish homologies from analogies.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Our analyses begin to integrate macroscopic information about morphology, organismal physiology, and descriptive embryology of these deuterostomes with genomic information about gene homologies, gene arrangements, gene novelties and non-coding elements.
From Nature ● Nov. 17, 2015
In addition to their morphological similarity, molecular analyses have revealed similar sequence homologies in their DNA.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Paleontologists, for example, have brought ambiguous homologies into sharp focus with the discovery of transitional fossils.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2010
But there are, it is here contended, abundant reasons for thinking that the predominant agent in the production of the homologies of the limbs is an internal force or tendency.
From On the Genesis of Species by St. George Mivart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
