phene
[feen]
- any characteristic of an individual organism that is genetically determined.
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Origin of phene
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for phene
Historical Examples
He had brought a book, and by-and-by opened at the part commencing, "Do not die, Phene."
Phene, betrothed to the French sculptor Jules, will be led this morning to her husband's home.
A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.)Mrs. Sutherland Orr
In the agony of his disappointment he is about to renounce Phene forever as the artists, waiting outside to sneer at him, expect.
His history is thus carried on beyond the point where we left him at the close of his interview with Phene.
Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert BrowningRobert Browning
The timid voice goes on, saying the lines by rote as Phene had learned them—and hard indeed they must have been to learn!
Browning's HeroinesEthel Colburn Mayne
Word Origin and History for phene
as an element in names of chemicals derived from benzene, from French phène, proposed 1836 by French scientist Auguste Laurent as an alternative name for "benzene" because it had been found in coal tar, a byproduct of the manufacture of "illuminating gas," from Greek phainein "to bring to light," (see phantasm). Related: Phenyl (radical which forms the basis of derivatives of benzene); pheno- (comb. form).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper