heterozygote

[ het-er-uh-zahy-goht, -zig-oht ]

/ ˌhɛt ər əˈzaɪ goʊt, -ˈzɪg oʊt /

noun Genetics.

a hybrid containing genes for two unlike forms of a characteristic, and therefore not breeding true to type.

Nearby words

heteroxanthine, heteroxenous, heteroxenous parasite, heterozygosis, heterozygosity, heterozygote, heterozygous, heth, hetian, hetman, hetmanate

Origin of heterozygote

First recorded in 1900–05; hetero- + zygote

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for heterozygote

If the individual was really a heterozygote, approximately fifty per cent.
Being Well-Born|Michael F. Guyer
In this character, then, dominance almost always fails to show itself in the heterozygote and often fails in pure dominants.
Inheritance of Characteristics in Domestic Fowl|Charles Benedict Davenport
The heterozygote produced by crossing these forms is intermediate in size and appearance.
Mendelism|Reginald Crundall Punnett
But in a heterozygote potency is usually more or less reduced.
Inheritance of Characteristics in Domestic Fowl|Charles Benedict Davenport

Some are probably matings of two heterozygotes, others of two recessives, and others still of a recessive with a heterozygote.
Inheritance of Characteristics in Domestic Fowl|Charles Benedict Davenport

British Dictionary definitions for heterozygote

heterozygote

/ (ˌhɛtərəʊˈzaɪɡəʊt, -ˈzɪɡəʊt) /

noun

an animal or plant that is heterozygous; a hybridCompare homozygote

Derived Formsheterozygosis, noun

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

Medicine definitions for heterozygote

heterozygote

[ hĕt′ə-rō-zī′gōt′ ]

n.

An organism that has different alleles at a particular gene locus on homologous chromosomes.