chromosome

English

An illustration of chromosome, with its parts. (1) Chromatid. One of the two identical parts of the chromosome after S phase. (2) Centromere. The point where the two chromatids touch, and where the microtubules attach. (3) Short arm (4) Long arm.

Etymology

19th century: from German Chromosom, ultimately from Ancient Greek χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour”) + σῶμα (sôma, “body”) (because they are stained under the microscope). Equivalent to chromo- +‎ -some.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹəʊ.məˌsəʊm/, /ˈkɹəʊ.məˌzəʊm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹoʊməˌsoʊm/, /ˈkɹoʊməˌzoʊm/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

chromosome (plural chromosomes)

1. (cytology, genetics) A linear arrangement of condensed DNA and associated proteins (such as chaperone proteins) which contains the genetic material (genome) of an organism.

   Chromosomes store genetic information.

   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 7:

     A length of DNA is divided into segments called chromosomes and shorter individual units called genes.

Derived terms

• B chromosome
• chromosomal
• chromosome conformation capture
• chromosomed
• chromosome number
• chromosomic
• chromosomology
• diplochromosome
• euchromosome
• genome
• heterochromosome
• idiochromosome
• interchromosome
• intrachromosome
• isochromosome
• lampbrush chromosome
• macrochromosome
• microchromosome
• midchromosome
• minichromosome
• monochromosome
• multichromosome
• nanochromosome
• neochromosome
• Ph chromosome
• Philadelphia chromosome
• pseudochromosome
• ring chromosome
• sex chromosome
• W chromosome
• X chromosome
• Y chromosome
• Z chromosome

 

Related terms

• chromatic
• chromato-
• -chrome
• chromo-

 

Translations

structure in the cell nucleus

• Albanian: kromozom (sq) m
• Arabic: كْرُومُوسُوم m (krumusūm), صِبْغِيّ (ṣibḡiyy)
• Armenian: քրոմոսոմ (hy) (kʻromosom)
• Asturian: cromosoma m
• Azerbaijani: xromosom
• Belarusian: храмасо́ма f (xramasóma)
• Bengali: তন্তুসদৃশ বস্তু (tontuśodriś bostu)
• Bulgarian: хромозо́ма f (hromozóma), хромозо́м m (hromozóm)
• Burmese: ခရိုမိုဆုမ်း (hka.ruimuihcum:)
• Catalan: cromosoma (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Eastern Min: 染色體／染色体 (niēng sáik tā̤)

  Hakka: 染色體／染色体 (ngiam-set-thí)

  Hokkien: 染色體／染色体 (liám-sek-thé)

  Mandarin: 染色體／染色体 (zh) (rǎnsètǐ)

• Czech: chromozom m
• Danish: kromosom (da)
• Dutch: chromosoom (nl) n
• Esperanto: kromosomo (eo)
• Estonian: kromosoom
• Finnish: kromosomi (fi)
• French: chromosome (fr) m
• Galician: cromosoma (gl) m
• Georgian: ქრომოსომა (kromosoma)
• German: Chromosom (de) n
• Greek: χρωμόσωμα (el) n (chromósoma)
• Gujarati: રંગસૂત્ર (raṅgsūtra)
• Hebrew: כְרוֹמוֹזוֹם (he) (kromosom)
• Hindi: गुणसूत्र (guṇsūtra), गुण सूत्र (guṇ sūtra)
• Icelandic: litningur (is) m
• Ido: kromosomo (io)
• Indonesian: kromosom (id)
• Irish: crómasóm m
• Italian: cromosoma (it) m
• Japanese: 染色体 (ja) (せんしょくたい, senshokutai)
• Kannada: ವರ್ಣತಂತು (varṇatantu)
• Kazakh: хромосома (xromosoma)
• Khmer: វណ្ណាង្គ (vonnang), ក្រូម៉ូសូម (kroumousoum)
• Korean: 염색체(染色體) (ko) (yeomsaekche), 물들체 (muldeulche) (North)
• Kyrgyz: хромосома (hromosoma)
• Lao: ກະໂລໂມຊົມ (ka lō mō som)
• Latvian: hromosoma f
• Lithuanian: chromosoma f
• Macedonian: хромозом m (hromozom)
• Maori: pūira
• Marathi: गुणसूत्र n (guṇasūtra)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хромосом (xromosom), будагт цогц (budagt cogc) (China)

  Mongolian: ᠾᠷᠣᠮᠰᠣᠮ (hromsom), ᠪᠤᠳᠤᠭᠲᠤ
  ᠴᠣᠭᠴᠠ (buduɣtu čoɣča)

• Nepali: गुणसूत्र (guṇasūtra)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kromosom n

  Nynorsk: kromosom n

• Occitan: cromosòma (oc) m
• Persian: رنگین تن (rangin tan), فامتن sg (fāmtan)
• Polish: chromosom (pl)
• Portuguese: cromossoma (pt) m (Portugal), cromossomo (pt) m (Brazil)
• Punjabi: ਗੁਣਸੂਤਰ (guṇsūtar)
• Romanian: cromozom (ro) m
• Russian: хромосо́ма (ru) f (xromosóma)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хромозом m

  Roman: hromozom m

• Slovak: chromozóm m
• Slovene: kromosom (sl) m
• Spanish: cromosoma (es) m
• Swahili: chembeuzi
• Swedish: kromosom (sv) c
• Tagalog: kromosoma
• Tajik: хромосома (xromosoma)
• Tamil: நிறப்புரி (ta) (niṟappuri), நிறமூர்த்தம் (niṟamūrttam)
• Telugu: వారసవాహిక (te) (vārasavāhika)
• Thai: โครโมโซม (th) (kroo-moo-soom)
• Turkish: kromozom (tr)
• Ukrainian: хромосо́ма f (xromosóma)
• Uzbek: xromosoma
• Vietnamese: chất sinh sắt, nhiểm sắc thể
• Volapük: kromosom (vo)
• Welsh: cromosom (cy) m
• West Frisian: gromosoom
• Yiddish: כראָמאָסאָם (khromosom)

Further reading

• “chromosome”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “chromosome”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “chromosome”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

19th century: chromo- +‎ -some, from German Chromosom, ultimately from Ancient Greek χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour”) + σῶμα (sôma, “body”) (because they are stained under the microscope).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʁɔ.mo.zom/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: chromosomes
• Hyphenation: chro‧mo‧some

Noun

chromosome m (plural chromosomes)

1. (biology, cytology) chromosome

Hyponyms

• autosome
• chromoïde
• gonosome

Meronyms

• chromatide

Holonyms

• caryotype

Derived terms

• chromosome Y
• chromosomique
• hétérochromosome

Further reading

• “chromosome”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.