diploid

[ dip-loid ]
See synonyms for diploid on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. double; twofold.

  2. Biology. having two similar complements of chromosomes.

noun
  1. Biology. an organism or cell having double the basic haploid number of chromosomes.

  2. Crystallography. a solid belonging to the isometric system and having 24 trapezoidal planes.

Origin of diploid

1
First recorded in 1905–10; dipl(o)- + -oid

Other words from diploid

  • dip·loi·dic, adjective

Words Nearby diploid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use diploid in a sentence

  • The uninitiated sees in the more highly organised plants only a succession of diploid generations.

    Darwin and Modern Science | A.C. Seward and Others
  • Similarly all the higher animals appear to us as independent organisms with diploid nuclei only.

    Darwin and Modern Science | A.C. Seward and Others
  • They appear with this arrangement in all subsequent nuclear divisions in the diploid generation.

    Darwin and Modern Science | A.C. Seward and Others
  • diploid (2n) chromosome numbers were determined from cells in late prophase and metaphase of mitosis.

British Dictionary definitions for diploid

diploid

/ (ˈdɪplɔɪd) /


adjective
  1. biology (of cells or organisms) having pairs of homologous chromosomes so that twice the haploid number is present

  2. double or twofold

noun
  1. biology a diploid cell or organism

Derived forms of diploid

  • diploidic, adjective
  • diploidy, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for diploid

diploid

[ dĭploid′ ]


  1. Having paired sets of chromosomes in a cell or cell nucleus. In diploid organisms that reproduce sexually, one set of chromosomes is inherited from each parent. The somatic cells of most animals are diploid. Compare haploid. See Note at mitosis.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.