sex chromosome

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noun Genetics.

a chromosome, differing in shape or function from other chromosomes, that determines the sex of an individual.

Origin of sex chromosome

First recorded in 1910–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sex chromosome

heterochromosome

British Dictionary definitions for sex chromosome

sex chromosome

noun

either of the chromosomes determining the sex of animalsSee also X-chromosome, Y-chromosome

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

sex chromosome in Medicine

sex chromosome

n.

Either of a pair of chromosomes, usually designated X or Y, that combine to determine the sex and sex-linked characteristics of an individual, with XX resulting in a female and XY in a male.

sex chromosome in Science

sex chromosome

Either of a pair of chromosomes, usually called X and Y, that in combination determine the sex of an individual in many animals and in some plants. In mammals, XX results in a female and XY in a male, while the opposite is true in birds (where the designations ZW for female and ZZ for male are often used). Sex chromosomes carry the genes that control the development of reproductive organs and secondary sex characteristics. In some organisms, sex is determined by environmental influences. See also X-chromosome Y-chromosome.