Word.ws English Dictionary

epigenetics

/ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪks/

epigenetics noun: the study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes.

Noun

epigenetics (uncountable)

  1. The study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes.
    • Epigenetics deals with the regulation of genetic activity within a cell - which genes are switched on or off, and when it happens.2010 November 6, “Sins of the Fathers”, in New Scientist
    • The nuts and bolts of how this happens revolves around the massively trendy field of “epigenetics,” revealing how early life experience causes long-lasting changes in gene expression in particular brain regions.2023, Robert M. Sapolsky, Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will, New York: Penguin, →ISBN
  2. The study of heritable changes caused by the activation and deactivation of genes without any change in DNA sequence.

epigenetics meaning in Tamil and Indonesian

epigenetics in Tamil

அதிசனனவியல்

epigenetics in Indonesian

study of processes
epigenetika
study of heritable changes
epigenetika

Origin of epigenetics

Blend of epigenesis + genetics; coined by British biologist and geneticist C. H. Waddington in 1942.

Words formed from epigenetics

Questions about epigenetics

What does epigenetics mean?
Epigenetics means the study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes.
What is epigenetics in Tamil?
Epigenetics in Tamil is அதிசனனவியல். See Epigenetics meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is epigenetics?
Epigenetics is a noun.
How do you pronounce epigenetics?
Epigenetics is pronounced /ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪks/.

Words near epigenetics in the dictionary

  1. epigenetical
  2. epigenetically
  3. epigeneticist
  4. epigeneticists
  5. epigeneticity
  6. epigenetics
  7. epigenic
  8. epigenics
  9. epigenist
  10. epigenists
  11. epigenome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: epigenetics (page history and authors); epigenetics (Tamil Wiktionary) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-epigenetics.wav.

Cite this entry: “epigenetics.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epigenetics. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.