Standard Lemma guide

mutagen

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.

  • /ˈmjuːtəd͡ʒn̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M Y UW1 T AH0 JH EH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any agent (physical or environmental) that can induce a genetic mutation or can increase the rate of mutation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: agent

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English muta- Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh1- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh1os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs)lbor. French -gènebor. English -gen English mutagen From muta- + -gen.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُطَفِّر (muṭaffir) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Azerbaijani: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Bulgarian: мутаген (mutagen) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 突變原 /突变原 (tūbiànyuán) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 誘變劑 /诱变剂 (yòubiànjì) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Czech: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Danish: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Dutch: mutageen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Estonian: mutageen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Finnish: mutageeni — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • French: mutagène — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • German: Mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Greek: μεταλλαξιογόνο (metallaxiogóno) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Greek: μεταλλαξιγόνο (metallaxigóno) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Indonesian: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Italian: mutageno — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Japanese: 変異原性 (hen'irasei) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Kazakh: мутагендер (mutagender) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Malay: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Māori: matū whakakē ira — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Persian: جهشزا (jahešzā) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Polish: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Portuguese: mutagênico — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Portuguese: mutagénico — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Portuguese: agente mutagênico — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Portuguese: agente mutagénico — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Portuguese: mutágeno — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Russian: мутаге́н (mutagén) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Serbo-Croatian: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Slovak: mutagén — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Slovene: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Spanish: mutágeno — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Swedish: mutagen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Turkish: mutajen — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Ukrainian: мутаге́н (mutahén) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation
  • Ukrainian: мутаґе́н (mutagén) — agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation