Standard Lemma guide

pleiotropy

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.

  • /plaɪˈɒtɹəpi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • cot-caught-merger: /plaɪˈɑtɹəpi/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The influence of a single gene on multiple phenotypic traits; pleiotropism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, genetics, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: polygeny

2

noun

Meaning 2

The existence of drug effects (especially beneficial effects) other than the one for which the drug was designed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, pharmacology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined by German zoologist Ludwig Plate in 1910, from Ancient Greek πλείων (pleíōn) + -tropy; by surface analysis, pleio- + -tropy.