English Explanatory Dictionary

X chromosome

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A mammalian sex chromosome: in the XY sex-determination system, cells of females typically have a pair of X chromosomes, while cells of males typically have an X and a Y.

Word forms

X chromosome X chromosomes X-chromosome

Etymology

Named by Hermann Henking in 1890 from x (signifying the unknown) due to some baffling properties he had observed. The brief resemblance in the appearance of the X and Y chromosomes to the letters "X" and "Y" respectively during cell division is entirely coincidental.

Related words

X-linked trait Y chromosome
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