prepotency

American  

[pree-poht-n-see] / priˈpoʊt n si /

noun

Genetics.

1. the ability of one parent to impress its hereditary characters on its progeny because it possesses more homozygous, dominant, or epistatic genes.

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prepotency British  

/ prɪˈpəʊtənsɪ /

noun

1. the state or condition of being prepotent

2. genetics the ability of one parent to transmit more characteristics to its offspring than the other parent

3. botany the ability of pollen from one source to bring about fertilization more readily than that from other sources

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Etymology

Origin of prepotency

1640–50 for general sense “predominance”; < Latin praepotentia. See prepotent, -ency

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prepotency

As Rockefeller’s oil prepotency waned, global production flourished; in a frantically developing industrialized world, oil reserves took on strategic importance.

From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2013

In only one genus, Cannabis, did the leaves sink in the evening, and Kraus attributes this movement to the prepotency of their epinastic growth.

From The Power of Movement in Plants by Darwin, Charles

Different plants, even of the same ancestry, vary greatly in prepotency or in the relative dominance of the influence they have over descendants raised from seed produced by them.

From Tomato Culture: A Practical Treatise on the Tomato by Tracy, W. W. (William Warner)

And when we remember on how delicate a balance of physiological conditions complete correspondency of pollen to ovules depends, we may be prepared to expect that the phenomenon of prepotency is not of uncommon occurrence.

From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John

Another case showing the strong prepotency of the Manx cat.

From Our Cats and All About Them Their Varieties, Habits, and Management; and for Show, the Standard of Excellence and Beauty; Described and Pictured by Weir, Harrison