genome

noun

ge·​nome ˈjē-ˌnōm 

: one haploid set of chromosomes with the genes they contain

broadly : the genetic material of an organism compare proteome

Examples of genome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a recent analysis of bacterial genomes, Murali and her colleagues concluded that some aerobes existed before the dawn of photosynthesis. — James Dinneen, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2026

An independent analysis of the Stanford data—led by Oliver Crook, a computational biochemist at the University of Oxford—found that the 16 viable phage genomes were on average about 97 percent identical to their ΦX174 template. — Elie Dolgin, IEEE Spectrum, 13 Aug. 2026

In the study, published in Cell Reports, Deng, Hoh and their colleagues analyzed genomes from 50 Indigenous people from the Malay Peninsula and compared them with other populations around the world. — Willow Zhang, Scientific American, 11 Aug. 2026

There is currently no whole-genome sequencing system for cyclospora comparable to the tools used for some bacterial outbreaks. — Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

German Genom, from Gen gene + -om (as in Chromosom chromosome)

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing genome

• genome editing

Rhymes for genome

• biome
• nichrome
• noisome
• prodrome
• radome
• rhizome
• shalom
• syndrome
• acrosome
• aerodrome
• catacomb
• centrosome

Medical Definition

genome

noun

ge·​nome ˈjē-ˌnōm 

: one haploid set of chromosomes with the genes they contain

broadly : the genetic material of an organism

The idea behind sequencing an organism's genome—decoding, letter by letter, the message contained in every last one of its genes—is that it would tell us a lot about how the organism works.

—Lori Oliwenstein, Discover