Standard Lemma guide

heterozygosity

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The condition of being heterozygous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the state of being heterozygous; having two different alleles of the same gene

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: homozygosity

Broader terms: state

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros)lbor. English hetero- English -zygous English heterozygous Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English heterozygosity From heterozygous + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: хетерозиготност (heterozigotnost) — the condition of being heterozygous
  • French: hétérozygotie — the condition of being heterozygous
  • German: Heterozygotie — the condition of being heterozygous
  • German: Mischerbigkeit — the condition of being heterozygous
  • German: Heterozygosität — the condition of being heterozygous
  • Irish: heitrisigóiseacht — the condition of being heterozygous
  • Polish: heterozygotyczność — the condition of being heterozygous
  • Russian: гетерозиго́тность (geterozigótnostʹ) — the condition of being heterozygous