Y chromosome

nounGenetics.

a sex chromosome of humans and most mammals that is present only in males and is paired with an X chromosome.

Origin of Y chromosome

First recorded in 1920–25

Compare X chromosome.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Y chromosome in a sentence

Carried distinctly through men, the Y chromosome only gives a portion of the entire mitochondrial DNA.
This Artist Reproduced van Gogh’s Ear…and It’s Alive! | Justin Jones | June 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
There is in the male, in addition to the X, also a Y chromosome, which acts as its mate in synapsis and reduction.
Sex-linked Inheritance in Drosophila | Thomas Hunt Morgan
The X chromosome in the male is represented by an open bar, the Y chromosome is bent.
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution | Thomas Hunt Morgan
Other evidence has shown that the Y chromosome of the male is indifferent, so far as these Mendelian factors are concerned.
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution | Thomas Hunt Morgan
The females that gave these results were found by Bridges to have two X's and a Y chromosome.
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution | Thomas Hunt Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for Y-chromosome

Y-chromosome

noun

the sex chromosome that occurs as one of a pair with the X-chromosome in the diploid cells of the males of many animals, including humans: Compare X-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

Scientific definitions for Y-chromosome

Y-chromosome

The sex chromosome that is paired with an X-chromosome in males. Most of the genes on the X-chromosome determine physical attributes associated with males, such as the development of testes. See more at sex chromosome. See Note at sex.

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