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

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

These students proved that generosity, once ignited, becomes self-replicating. — Matthew Scogin, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025

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

And, in a nod to nanotech panic, Season 2's big bad was a self-replicating cloud of drone arms controlled by The Human Centipede's Dieter Laser. — Chris McMullen, Space.com, 2 Aug. 2025

Those are the accouterments of an outstandingly dressed Black man, a dandy, to be sure, but that gives way to André centering himself in the video–self-replicating and standing in as seemingly minor characters. — Julian Randall, Essence, 25 Nov. 2024

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

The notorious Sandworm unit within Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, for instance, has triggered unprecedented blackouts and released destructive, self-replicating code. — Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 14 Apr. 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