self-replicating

adjective

self-rep·​li·​cat·​ing ˌself-ˈre-plə-ˌkā-tiŋ 

: reproducing itself autonomously

DNA is a self-replicating molecule

self-replication

ˌself-ˌre-plə-ˈkā-shən 

noun

Examples of self-replicating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This requires that less than one in a hundred billion stars ever produces self-replicating probes that just do their own thing. — Quanta Magazine, 9 July 2026

From an engineering perspective, this process can be conceptualized as a self-replicating firmware update that spreads through a network of nodes; however, the network in this case is a population, and the firmware update is a genomic modification. — Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 27 Feb. 2026

Security researchers have already predicted the rise of this kind of self-replicating adversarial prompt among networks of AI agents. — ArsTechnica, 3 Feb. 2026

Technosignatures of self-replicating probes in the solar system. — Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1946, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for self-replicating

• accelerating
• accentuating
• accommodating
• accumulating
• adjudicating
• administrating
• affiliating
• agglutinating
• alienating
• alleviating
• amalgamating
• ameliorating

Medical Definition

self-replicating

adjective

self-rep·​li·​cat·​ing -ˈrep-lə-ˌkāt-iŋ 

: reproducing itself autonomously

DNA is a self-replicating molecule

self-replication

-ˌrep-lə-ˈkā-shən 

noun