deoxyribonucleic acid

American  

[dee-ok-si-rahy-boh-noo-klee-ik, -nyoo-, -ok-si-rahy-] / diˈɒk sɪˈraɪ boʊ nuˈkli ɪk, -nyu-, -ˌɒk sɪˌraɪ- /

noun

Genetics.

1. DNA.

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deoxyribonucleic acid British  

/ diːˌɒksɪˌraɪbəʊnjuːˈkleɪɪk /

noun

1. the full name for DNA

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deoxyribonucleic acid Scientific  

/ dē-ŏk′sē-rī′bō-no̅o̅-klē′ĭk /

1. See DNA

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Etymology

Origin of deoxyribonucleic acid

First recorded in 1930–35; deoxy- + ribonucleic acid

Example Sentences

Coincidentally, Oswald Avery had only the year before shown that a relatively simple compound — deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA — must play a role in transferring genetic information.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025

Their discovery - of the structure and function of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA - ranks alongside those of Mendel and Darwin in its significance to modern science.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

In living things, deoxyribonucleic acid, more commonly known as DNA, carries biological information that instructs the cells of organisms on how to form, grow, and reproduce.

From Science Daily • Sep. 27, 2023

DNA is, of course, an abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule that codes genetic information in all living organisms.

From Salon • Jul. 3, 2021

This was the earliest ancestor of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, the master molecule of life on Earth.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan