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

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

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

In the foregoing remarks on non-inheritance, crossed breeds are of course excluded, as their diversity mainly depends on the unequal development of characters derived from either parent, modified by the principles of reversion and prepotency.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2) by Darwin, Charles

Beta vulgaris. measurements. crossed not exceeded by self-fertilised. prepotency of other pollen.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Darwin, Charles

When we consider latent characters, the explanation of this form of prepotency will be obvious.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Volume II (of 2) by Darwin, Charles