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mutation

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mu⋅ta⋅tion

  [myoo-tey-shuhn]
Use mutation in a Sentence
–noun
1. Biology.
a. a sudden departure from the parent type in one or more heritable characteristics, caused by a change in a gene or a chromosome.
b. an individual, species, or the like, resulting from such a departure.
2. the act or process of changing.
3. a change or alteration, as in form or nature.
4. Phonetics. umlaut.
5. Linguistics. (in Celtic languages) syntactically determined morphophonemic phenomena that affect initial sounds of words.
Origin:
1325–75; ME mutacio(u)n < L mūtātion- (s. of mūtātiō) a changing. See mutate, -ion

Related forms:
mu⋅ta⋅tion⋅al, adjective
mu⋅ta⋅tion⋅al⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mu·ta·tion   (myōō-tā'shən)   
n.  

  1. The act or process of being altered or changed.

  2. An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.

  3. Genetics

    1. A change of the DNA sequence within a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type.

    2. The process by which such a change occurs in a chromosome, either through an alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA coding for a gene or through a change in the physical arrangement of a chromosome.

    3. A mutant.

  4. Linguistics The change that is caused in a sound by its assimilation to another sound, such as umlaut.


[Middle English mutacioun, from Old French mutacion, from Latin mūtātiō, mūtātiōn-, from past participle of mūtāre, to change; see mutate.]
mu·ta'tion·al adj., mu·ta'tion·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mutation 
c.1374, "action of changing," from L. mutationem (nom. mutatio) "a changing," from mutatus, pp. of mutare "to change" (see mutable). Genetic sense is from 1894. Verb mutate "to change state or condition" is first recorded 1818 (in genetic sense, 1913), from L. mutatus.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: mu·ta·tion
Pronunciation: myü-'tA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : a relatively permanent change in hereditary materialinvolving either a physical change in chromosome relations or a biochemical change in the codons that make up genes; also : the process of producing a mutation
2 : an individual, strain, or trait resulting from mutation —mu·ta·tion·al /-shn&l, -sh&n-&l/ adjective —mu·ta·tion·al·ly /-E/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

mutation mu·ta·tion (my&oomacr;-tā'shən)
n.

  1. The act or process of being altered or changed.

  2. An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.

  3. A sudden structural change within a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type.

  4. The process by which such a sudden structural change occurs, either through an alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA coding for a gene or through a change in the physical arrangement of a chromosome.

  5. A mutant.

mu·ta'tion·al adj.
mu·ta'tion·al·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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