Word.ws English Dictionary

epigenetic

/ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪk/

epigenetic adjective: of or relating to epigenesis.

Adjective

epigenetic (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to epigenesis.
  2. Of or relating to epigenetics.
    • The old and optimistic “one gene — one character” concept has long been invalidated by phenomena such as pleiotropy and polygeny, and for a generation now we have thought of genomic activity as a system of complex epigenetic interactions — an epigenetic landscape.1977 December, Rupert Riedl, “A Systems-Analytical Approach to Macro-Evolutionary Phenomena”, in The Quarterly Review of Biology, volume 52, number 4, →JSTOR, page 352
    • Every cell in the body contains the same DNA but epigenetic settings on cells in the bone and blood, for example, mean the tissues do very different jobs. The epigenetic consequences of a huge range of environmental factors are under investigation, from exposure to drugs, chemicals and hormones, to...2010 November 6, “Sins of the Fathers”, in New Scientist

Examples of epigenetic in a sentence

  • Every cell in the body contains the same DNA but epigenetic settings on cells in the bone and blood, for example, mean the tissues do very different jobs.2010 November 6, “Sins of the Fathers”, in New Scientist:
  • It is now possible to define whole epigenomes, representing the totality of epigenetic marks in a given cell type.2008 August 7, The American Association for Cancer Research Human Epigenome Task Force; European Union, Network of Excellence, Scientific...

Origin of epigenetic

From epi- + genetic.

Words formed from epigenetic

Questions about epigenetic

What does epigenetic mean?
Epigenetic means of or relating to epigenesis.
How do you use epigenetic in a sentence?
Every cell in the body contains the same DNA but epigenetic settings on cells in the bone and blood, for example, mean the tissues do very different jobs.
What part of speech is epigenetic?
Epigenetic is an adjective.
How do you pronounce epigenetic?
Epigenetic is pronounced /ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪk/.

Words near epigenetic in the dictionary

  1. epigene
  2. epigeneses
  3. epigenesis
  4. epigenesist
  5. epigenesists
  6. epigenetic
  7. epigenetic clock
  8. epigenetical
  9. epigenetically
  10. epigeneticist
  11. epigeneticists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: epigenetic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

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