hybrid

American  

[hahy-brid] / ˈhaɪ brɪd /

noun

hybrids plural

1. the offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species, or genera, especially as produced through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics.

2. a person or group of persons produced by the interaction or crossbreeding of two unlike cultures, traditions, etc.

3. anything derived from heterogeneous sources, or composed of elements of different or incongruous kinds.

   a hybrid of the academic and business worlds.

4. a word composed of elements originally drawn from different languages, as television, whose components come from Greek and Latin.

5. 1. something that is powered by more than one source of power.

      a wind-solar hybrid to generate electricity.

   2. a car or other vehicle that combines an internal-combustion engine with one or more electric motors powered by a battery.

      She says she's proud to be driving a hybrid.

---

adjective

1. bred from two distinct breeds, varieties, species, or genera.

   Antonyms:

   thoroughbred, purebred

2. composite; formed or composed of heterogeneous elements.

3. composed of elements originally drawn from different languages, as a word.

4. powered by more than one source of power.

   It is hoped that hybrid buses will reduce urban air pollution.

hybrid British  

/ ˈhaɪbrɪd /

noun

1. an animal or plant resulting from a cross between genetically unlike individuals. Hybrids between different species are usually sterile

2. anything of mixed ancestry

3. a vehicle that is powered by an internal-combustion engine and another source of power such as a battery

4. a word, part of which is derived from one language and part from another, such as monolingual, which has a prefix of Greek origin and a root of Latin origin

---

adjective

1. (of a vehicle) powered by more than one source

2. denoting or being a hybrid; of mixed origin

3. physics (of an electromagnetic wave) having components of both electric and magnetic field vectors in the direction of propagation

4. electronics

   1. (of a circuit) consisting of transistors and valves

   2. (of an integrated circuit) consisting of one or more fully integrated circuits and other components, attached to a ceramic substrate Compare monolithic

hybrid Scientific  

/ hī′brĭd /

1. An organism that is the offspring of two parents that differ in one or more inheritable characteristics, especially the offspring of two different varieties of the same species or the offspring of two parents belonging to different species. In agriculture and animal husbandry, hybrids of different varieties and species are bred in order to combine the favorable characteristics of the parents. Hybrids often display hybrid vigor. The mule, which is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, is an example of a hybrid. It is strong for its size and has better endurance and a longer useful lifespan than its parents. However, mules are sterile, as are many animals that are hybrids between two species.

---

Synonym Usage

Hybrid, mongrel refer to animals or plants of mixed origin. Hybrid is the scientific term: hybrid corn; a hybrid variety of sheep. Mongrel, used originally of dogs to denote the offspring of crossings of different breeds, is now extended to other animals and to plants; it is usually deprecatory, as denoting mixed, nondescript, or degenerate breed or character: a mongrel pup.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hybridism
  noun
• hybridity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hybrids
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hybrid

First recorded in 1595–1605, hybrid is from the Latin word hybrida, hibrida “a crossbred animal”

Explanation

A hybrid is a mixture of two different things, resulting in something that has a little bit of both — like the rare zedonk, a hybrid of a donkey and a zebra. The word hybrid gets thrown around often these days — ever heard of hybrid cars that run on both electricity and fuel? Or hybrid films that are half animation, half live action? But hybrid is really most at home in the realm of genetics and crossbreeding. It actually comes to us from the Latin hybrida, meaning the offspring of two dissimilar animals, specifically a tame sow and a wild boar.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hybrid hybrids

While trying to save the world, and facing new problems and threats along the way with pop culture nods aplenty, the quartet wind up in a hybrid genre.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

He is known for larger-than-life sculptures and hard-edge paintings that feature his hybrid cartoon characters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Chip stacks fused with hybrid bonding have smaller gaps between layers than those fused via less-expensive thermal compression bonding, allowing more memory to be crammed into a smaller space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

But it's not the din of a 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid engine which has caused the alarm.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Elsie shrieks as a gorilla hybrid gets frighteningly near, but it’s beaten back by a female agent with a laser whip.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

An escalation in European Union trade barriers could pose some risks, as the bloc plans to extend tariff hikes to imports of Chinese plug-in hybrids, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Range was also an issue, with some of the first hybrids only able to go a few miles on a battery charge.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 5, 2026

The share of hybrids among all vehicle power trains sold rose to a record 14% in the first quarter, up from 12% in the first quarter of 2025, according to Cox Automotive.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 5, 2026

Some of the popularity of hybrids is rooted in familiarity.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

In the first-generation hybrids, the individual heritable traits—tallness and shortness, or green and yellow seeds—did not blend at all.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• amalgam
• combination