chromosome

IPA/ˈkrəʊməsəʊm/
KK[krˈoməsˌom]IPA/ˈkrəʊməsəʊm/

chromosome — noun

  • chromosomesingular
  • chromosomesplural

1. A tiny, thread-like structure inside every living cell that holds the informatio

1.nounB2
Definition

A tiny, thread-like structure inside every living cell that holds the information, made of DNA, which decides how a living thing develops and what features it has.

Example

Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes inside every cell of their body.

collocation: pairs of chromosomes

A baby receives half of its chromosomes from each parent.

pattern: receives … from … for inheritance

Common collocations
  • human chromosome
  • sex chromosome
  • chromosome pair
  • chromosome number
  • extra chromosome

Grammar Patterns

number + chromosome(s)

chromosome + number

Usage Note

Countable noun. Common in biology and medical writing. When referring to a specific chromosome, use a number after the word (chromosome 1, chromosome X) rather than before it.

Common Mistakes

Each gene contains thousands of chromosomes.
Each chromosome contains thousands of genes.
A chromosome is larger than a gene; many genes sit on one chromosome.

Word family

  • chromosomal
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four terms are closely related but refer to different things. A chromosome is a thread-like structure in the cell nucleus that packages DNA. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the chemical molecule that carries the genetic code. A gene is a specific segment of DNA that holds the instructions for one trait (such as eye colour). The genome is the complete set of all genetic material in an organism. Think of it as a library: the genome is the whole collection, each chromosome is a book, a gene is a single sentence, and DNA is the ink the sentence is written in.

DNA ↗gene ↗genome ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • pair of chromosomes
  • set of chromosomes
  • copy of a chromosome

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekGermanEnglish

The word chromosome was created in German in 1888 from two Greek roots: chroma (χρῶμα, meaning 'colour') and soma (σῶμα, meaning 'body'). Biologists named it this because the structures absorb a coloured stain that makes them visible under a microscope for the first time.