acquired characteristic

American  

[uh-kwahy-erd kar-ik-ter-ist-ik] / əˈkwaɪ ərd ˌkær ɪk tərˈɪst ɪk /

noun

1. Biology. Also called acquired trait; acquired character. a characteristic or trait that is neither inherited nor heritable in that it develops during one's lifetime as brought about by such factors as disease, injury, deliberate body modification, exposure to toxins, substance abuse, and prolonged overuse or disuse of organs, muscles, etc.

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acquired characteristic British  

noun

1. a characteristic of an organism that results from increased use or disuse of an organ or the effects of the environment and cannot be inherited See also Lamarckism

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acquired characteristic Scientific  

/ ə-kwīrd′ /

1. A nonhereditary change of function or structure in a plant or animal made in response to the environment. Acquired characteristics include bodily changes brought about by disease or by repeated use or disuse of a body part (as in the building or atrophy of muscle tissue). The heritability of acquired characteristics was advocated by certain biological theorists like Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and rejected by Charles Darwin in his formulation of the theory of evolution.

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Example Sentences

Mentioning the limping family dog, Bunch, in an apt example of an acquired characteristic that cannot be inherited, he is reminded of an unfinished poem his mother wrote after Bunch died, which he prints.

From Nature • Sep. 8, 2015

"The heritance of an acquired characteristic was no longer an unsupported theory," he said.

From Time Magazine Archive

Weismann had proposed a radical alternative: perhaps hereditary information was contained exclusively in sperm and egg cells, with no direct mechanism for an acquired characteristic to be transmitted into sperm or eggs.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

They acquired characteristic modes of speaking, of thinking.

From Stage-coach and Tavern Days by Earle, Alice Morse

"An acquired characteristic, I assure you," said Temple, remembering his first meeting with Betty.

From The Incomplete Amorist by Nesbit, E. (Edith)