drosophila

[ droh-sof-uh-luh, druh- ]
/ droʊˈsɒf ə lə, drə- /

noun, plural dro·soph·i·las, dro·soph·i·lae [droh-sof-uh-lee, druh-]. /droʊˈsɒf əˌli, drə-/.

a fly of the genus Drosophila, especially D. melanogaster, used in laboratory studies of genetics and development.

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Origin of drosophila

<New Latin <Greek dróso(s) dew + New Latin -phila<Greek -philē, feminine of -philos-phile

Words nearby drosophila

drop zone, drosera, droshky, drosky, drosometer, drosophila, dross, drossy, Droste-Hülshoff, drought, droughty
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for drosophila

British Dictionary definitions for drosophila

drosophila
/ (drɒˈsɒfɪlə) /

noun plural -las or -lae (-ˌliː)

any small dipterous fly of the genus Drosophila, esp D. melanogaster, a species widely used in laboratory genetics studies: family Drosophilidae. They feed on plant sap, decaying fruit, etcAlso called: fruit fly, vinegar fly

Word Origin for drosophila

C19: New Latin, from Greek drosos dew, water + -phila; see -phile
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for drosophila

drosophila
[ drō-sŏf′ə-lə ]

Any of various small fruit flies of the genus Drosophila, one species of which (D. melanogaster) is used extensively in genetic research to study patterns of inheritance and the functions of genes.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.