Meaning & use
phenotype
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnicalbiology
The visible or measurable features of a living thing, produced by its genes and its surroundings.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about a phenotype or several phenotypes.
Patterns
- the phenotype of something
- a phenotype for a trait
- express a phenotype
The phenotype of these mice includes white fur and pink eyes.
A plant's phenotype can change with the amount of sunlight it receives.
Researchers recorded the phenotype of each bird, noting wing length and color.
nouncountabletechnicalbiology
A group of organisms sharing a particular set of observable features.
Grammar: Often used in the plural to compare groups: phenotypes differ in drought tolerance.
Patterns
- different phenotypes
- a range of phenotypes
- select for a phenotype
The two phenotypes grow at different rates in cold water.
Farmers have long selected for phenotypes that produce more grain.
In the population, three distinct phenotypes can be identified by flower color.
Word forms
| plural | phenotypes |
|---|
Common combinations
- phenotypic variation
- Phenotypic variation in beak size helps birds survive different diets.
- express a phenotype
- Only cells with the active gene express the phenotype.
- the phenotype of an organism
- The phenotype of an organism reflects both its genes and its environment.
- phenotype and genotype
- In genetics class we learned to distinguish phenotype and genotype.
Synonyms and how they differ
- characteristic
- A general word for any feature; phenotype is the technical term for features produced by genes and environment together.
- trait
- Usually refers to one specific feature such as eye color, while phenotype can mean the whole set of features.
- appearance
- Only covers what you can see; phenotype also includes measurable biochemical features.
Opposites
Word family
- phenotypic adjective
- Relating to the phenotype: phenotypic differences between the strains.
- phenotypically adverb
- In terms of the phenotype: the cells are phenotypically identical.
Commonly confused: phenotype or genotype?
phenotype vs genotype
Genotype is the actual genetic makeup (the DNA sequence); phenotype is the observable result of that makeup plus environmental influences.
Practice
In genetics, which term describes the observable features of an organism?
Choose one answer.
Phenotype refers to the visible or measurable characteristics, while genotype is the genetic code itself. Allele and chromosome are parts of the genetic material, not the observable features.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “phenotype”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.