outbreeding

outbreeding — noun

1. the mating of plants or animals that come from different, unrelated groups, usua

1.nounC2
Definition

the mating of plants or animals that come from different, unrelated groups, usually done to keep their young healthy and avoid weak offspring.

Example

Dog breeder Ada used outbreeding to make her puppies stronger and healthier.

outbreeding to + verb (stating the purpose)

On the farm, outbreeding kept the cattle herd free from inherited illness.

outbreeding kept [population] free from [problem]

Common collocations
  • promote outbreeding
  • rely on outbreeding
  • outbreeding depression
Synonyms
  • outcrossing

    closest synonym among geneticists; often used when both parents still belong to the same breed or line

  • crossbreeding

    usually means deliberately mixing two recognised breeds; outbreeding stresses the genetic distance, not the breed labels

Antonyms
  • inbreeding

    the opposite practice — mating between close relatives, which can concentrate harmful traits

Grammar Patterns

outbreeding of [a population]

Usage Note

Uncountable; used without a or an and almost never in the plural. Frequently set against its opposite, inbreeding, when describing breeding choices.

Common Mistakes

They did three outbreedings this year.
They used outbreeding three times this year.
outbreeding is uncountable and has no plural form.
Outbreeding means mating close relatives.
Inbreeding means mating close relatives; outbreeding is the opposite.
the two terms describe opposite practices.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

In breeding talk, outbreeding, outcrossing, crossbreeding, and hybridization all describe pairing parents that are not close relatives, but they differ in scope. Outbreeding is the broadest and most technical: it simply means choosing mates from genetically distant groups, whatever the species. Outcrossing is its closest cousin among geneticists, often used when the two parents still share the same breed or line. Crossbreeding narrows things further — it usually means deliberately mixing two recognised breeds, such as a Labrador with a poodle. Hybridization goes furthest, covering crosses between different varieties or even species, like a horse and a donkey. Its opposite, inbreeding, pairs close relatives and can concentrate harmful traits. So a farmer wanting healthier stock asks for outbreeding, while a dog owner usually talks about crossbreeding.

outbreeding ↗outcrossingcrossbreeding ↗hybridizationinbreeding ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • outbreeding programme
  • outbreeding strategy

Phrases

  • a policy of outbreeding
  • encourage outbreeding among herds

Prepositions

  • outbreeding between populations
  • outbreeding of livestock

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Outbreeding joins the prefix out- with breeding. Out- comes from Old English ūt, meaning 'outward' or 'beyond the usual group', while breed traces to Old English brēdan, 'to produce or raise young', a relative of brood. The word took its modern shape in the 1800s, when farmers and early geneticists needed a name for the deliberate practice of seeking mates from outside a closely related stock — the direct opposite of inbreeding.

First known use

1901

1901, in the meaning defined above