heritability

noun

her·​i·​ta·​bil·​i·​ty ˌher-ə-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

ˌhe-rə-

1

: the quality or state of being heritable

2

: the proportion of observed variation in a particular trait (such as height) that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors in contrast to environmental ones

Examples of heritability in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The fact that the median trait value changed so much over the century and a half of the survey, combined with its heritability, allows one to infer that this shift was driven in part by natural selection. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2011

In recent years, researchers have explored the heritability of personality, including outliers like altruism and bashfulness. —Mark Barna, Discover Magazine, 31 July 2018

While age, alcohol consumption, and diabetes are listed as risk factors, past studies, including one from Denmark carried out in 1999, show that heritability is the most important aspect. —Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 27 July 2023

Recent work with horses also suggests that measuring the heritability of certain metabolic traits could be used to screen for metabolic syndrome in the future. —Jane Manfredi, Fortune Well, 25 July 2023

The heritability of sickle cell anemia, the most common and severe form of SCD, is about as straightforward as a Punnett square from a middle school biology textbook: if both parents are carriers (AS/AS), their children have a 25 percent chance of having the disease. —Krithika Varagur, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023

Further, the measures rest strongly upon the measure of heritability, something noted for being based on outdated models that don’t account for recent genetic findings such as epigenetics, the study of how your environment causes changes in your genes. —Mira Lazine, Discover Magazine, 3 June 2022

A lot of the article is taken up with criticisms of political scientist John Alford's behavior genetic findings on the heritability of ideology. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 24 Aug. 2011

So if heritability is 1.0 all of the variation is due genetic variation; offspring are just a linear combination of their parents. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2012

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Word History

Etymology

herit(able) + -ability

First Known Use

1832, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

heritability

noun

her·​i·​ta·​bil·​i·​ty ˌher-ət-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

plural heritabilities

1

: the quality or state of being heritable

2

: the proportion of observed variation in a particular trait (as intelligence) that can be attributed to inherited genetic factors in contrast to environmental ones