replication

[rep-li-key-shuhn]

noun

1. a reply; answer.

2. a reply to an answer.

3. Law.,  the reply of the plaintiff or complainant to the defendant's plea or answer.

4. reverberation; echo.

5. a copy.

6. the act or process of replicating, especially for experimental purposes.

7. Genetics.,  semiconservative replication.

Other Word Forms

• nonreplication noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of replication¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English replicacioun, from Middle French replication, from Latin replicātiōn- (stem of replicātiō ) “a rolling back,” equivalent to replicāt(us) + -iōn- suffix forming nouns; replicate, -ion

Example Sentences

For RNA viruses, such as influenza, survival is equivalent to replication.

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But only six CBO models have appeared, mostly fragments that don’t permit full replication.

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But, he adds, the findings are “very preliminary and need replication. I am interested to see where they take it, but it is far from being used clinically on humans.”

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As it became apparent that not all viruses behaved alike, Baltimore launched a new classification system, one that is still in use, grouping them by families according to their genomes and replication systems.

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Mutations are copying errors that occur naturally during the replication process.

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Related Words

• reproduction