inbreeding

American  

[in-bree-ding] / ˈɪnˌbri dɪŋ /

noun

Biology.

1. the mating of closely related individuals, as cousins, sire-daughter, brother-sister, or self-fertilized plants, which tends to increase the number of individuals that are homozygous for a trait and therefore increases the appearance of recessive traits.

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inbreeding Scientific  

/ ĭn′brē′dĭng /

1. The breeding or mating of related individuals within an isolated or closed group of organisms or people. Inbreeding can result in inbreeding depression. However, in agriculture and animal husbandry, the continued breeding of closely related individuals can help to preserve desirable traits in a stock.

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Etymology

Origin of inbreeding

First recorded in 1835–45; inbreed + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Even when recovery begins with a small group of surviving individuals, continued population growth can help offset the harmful effects of inbreeding and partially restore lost variation.

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2026

In many cases, one of their offspring takes over the reproductive role, which results in widespread inbreeding within colonies.

From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2026

In Southern California, lions have shown deformities from inbreeding, including kinked tails and malformed sperm.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

This dispersal, as it's known, plays a role in avoiding inbreeding, spreading gene diversity and shaping social relationships.

From BBC • Aug. 5, 2025

But selective inbreeding via marriage, Wells argued, might paradoxically produce weaker and duller generations.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee