genome
Americannoun
noun
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the full complement of genetic material within an organism
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all the genes comprising a haploid set of chromosomes
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The total amount of genetic information in the chromosomes of an organism, including its genes and DNA sequences. The genome of eukaryotes is made up of a single, haploid set of chromosomes that is contained in the nucleus of every cell and exists in two copies in all cells except reproductive and red blood cells. The human genome is made up of about 20,000 to 25,000 genes.
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Compare proteome
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of genome
First recorded in 1925–30; from German Genom, from Gen gene + (Chromos)om chromosome
Explanation
The human genome is the map of your DNA, the double helix that contains all your genes. Your genome is all the genetic material contained in your 23 pairs of chromosomes, a total of more than 20,000 genes. Every organism has its own unique genome. "The Human Genome Project," completed in 2003, was an international effort to identify all the genes in human DNA and to determine the sequences of the 3 billion (yes, billion) base pairs — the smaller units that make up DNA. It took 13 years. Genome research has helped diagnose disease and find genetic markers for certain diseases.
Vocabulary lists containing genome
This Week In Words: March 29–April 4, 2020
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Genetics - Middle School
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Life Science: Genetics and Evolution
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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.
The Japanese genome study identified 44 archaic DNA regions still present in modern Japanese populations, many of them unique to East Asians.
From Science Daily • May 14, 2026
Most of the viral genome contains instructions for structural proteins, but it also encodes several specialized proteins required for replication.
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
Sequencing of mitochondrial genomes from both specimens showed they were nearly identical to a known reference genome for this species.
From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026
The analysis included genome data from southern, eastern and western Africa.
From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2026
The genome was an active blueprint—capable of deploying selected parts of its code at different times and in different circumstances.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
