polygenic

adjective

poly·​gen·​ic ˌpä-lē-ˈje-nik  -ˈjē- 

: of, relating to, mediated by, or constituting polygenes : involving two or more nonallelic genes collectively in determining inherited characteristics : multifactorial sense 1

polygenic inheritance

polygenic traits

Others think the allergic state is polygenic: transmitted by a number of genes whose combined expression is necessary to make a person allergic.

—Paul D. Buisseret

Examples of polygenic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The technology is able to do this by not only detecting specific genetic markers for certain diseases but by also calculating polygenic scores, which combine up to a million genetic markers into a single number to determine someone's genetic predisposition for a condition or trait. —Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025

Imagine designing screening trials not for the general population but for people already flagged by genetics—those with high polygenic scores for breast or colon cancer. —Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

Each individual gene involved in a polygenic trait may exert only a small influence on that trait. —Kermit Pattison, Scientific American, 20 May 2025

In contrast to diseases such as Tay-Sachs or cystic fibrosis, where mutations in a single gene cause a disease, chronic diseases tend to be polygenic, meaning they’re influenced by multiple mutations at many genes across the whole genome. —Arun Durvasula, The Conversation, 14 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

poly- + gene + -ic entry 1, after German polygen

Note: The term polygen was introduced by the German zoologist and social Darwinist Ludwig Plate (1862-1937) in Vererbungslehre, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Menschen (Leipzig, 1913), p. 75

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for polygenic

• allergenic
• androgenic
• antigenic
• authigenic
• autogenic
• biogenic
• bronchogenic
• chromogenic
• cryogenic
• echogenic
• estrogenic
• isogenic

Medical Definition

polygenic

adjective

poly·​gen·​ic ˌpäl-i-ˈjēn-ik  -ˈjen-ik 

: of, relating to, or resulting from polygenes : multifactorial

a polygenic disorder

polygenically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb