uniparental

adjective

uni·​pa·​ren·​tal ˌyü-ni-pə-ˈren-tᵊl How to pronounce uniparental (audio)
: having, involving, or derived from a single parent
specifically : involving or being inheritance in which all or part of an offspring's genotype (such as both members of a pair of homologous chromosomes) is derived from a single parent
uniparentally adverb

Examples of uniparental in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In the 1990s the uniparental loci, the maternal and paternal lineages as inferred from the mtDNA and Y chromosomes, came into their own. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 July 2011 Finally, the authors note that uniparental lineages (mtDNA and Y) seem to imply that the last common ancestors of the ANI with other sampled West Eurasian groups dates to ~10,000 years before the present. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 8 Aug. 2013 There have been some suggestive uniparental results. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 9 Aug. 2012 But there is also a clear African component to the Malagasy, more obvious among coastal populations, but also possibly dominant in a genetic sense in terms of proportion to the Asian according to research using uniparental markers. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2010 The Genographic Project is now moving beyond uniparental lineages with Geno 2.0. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 July 2012

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'uniparental.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of uniparental was in 1889

Dictionary Entries Near uniparental

Cite this Entry

“Uniparental.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uniparental. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

Medical Definition

uniparental

adjective
uni·​pa·​ren·​tal ˌyü-ni-pə-ˈrent-ᵊl How to pronounce uniparental (audio)
: having, involving, or derived from a single parent
specifically : involving or being inheritance in which an offspring's complete genotype or all copies of one or more genes, chromosome parts, or whole chromosomes are derived from a single parent
uniparental disomy
uniparentally adverb
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