Genetically

How to spell genetically

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce genetically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does genetically mean?

1. adverbIn a way that relates to genes, heredity, or inherited biological characteristics.

Genetically in a sentence

• The two breeds are genetically almost identical.

• This crop has been genetically modified to resist drought.

Where does genetically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek genos, meaning birth, origin, or race, and the closely related genesis, meaning the act of coming into being. The adjective 'genetic' was coined in the early nineteenth century to describe anything relating to origin or development, well before the modern science of heredity existed. Once biologists in the early twentieth century named the units of inheritance 'genes', drawing on the same Greek stem, 'genetic' acquired its now-dominant sense of relating to genes and heredity. The adverb 'genetically' simply adds the standard English '-ally' ending, the suffix that follows any adjective formed with '-ic'. The same genos root also gives us 'genesis', 'genus', and 'generate', and remembering that family helps explain why the spelling keeps the full '-ically' rather than a shorter '-icly'.

How the word is built

• gen- (from Greek genos: birth, origin, race)
• -et-
• -ic (adjective)
• -al
• -ly (adverb)