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noun the basic physical unit of heredity; a linear sequence of nucleotides along a segment of DNA that provides the coded instructions for synthesis of RNA, which, when translated into protein, leads to the expression of hereditary character. |
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–verb (used with object) 1. | to produce, cause, or give rise to: Hatred engenders violence. | –verb (used without object) 3. | to be produced or caused; come into existence: Conditions for a war were engendering in Europe. |
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–noun 1. | good breeding or refinement. | 2. | affected or pretentious politeness or elegance. | 3. | the status of belonging to polite society. | 4. | members of polite society collectively. |
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–noun 1. | wellborn and well-bred people. | 2. | (in England) the class below the nobility. | 3. | an upper or ruling class; aristocracy. | 4. | those who are not members of the nobility but are entitled to a coat of arms, esp. those owning large tracts of land. | 5. | (used with a plural verb[image]) people, esp. considered as a specific group, class, or kind: The polo crowd doesn't go there, but these hockey gentry do. | 6. | the state or condition of being a gentleman |
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1. | Biology. the usual major subdivision of a family or subfamily in the classification of organisms, usually consisting of more than one species. | 2. | Logic. a class or group of individuals, or of species of individuals. | |
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–adjective 1. | of or pertaining to a condition present at birth, whether inherited or caused by the environment, esp. the uterine environment. | 2. | having by nature a specified character: a congenital fool. |
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–noun (used with a singular verb[image]) the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, esp. by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics). |
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–noun, plural -gies. 1. | a record or account of the ancestry and descent of a person, family, group, etc. | 2. | the study of family ancestries and histories. | 3. | descent from an original form or progenitor; lineage; ancestry. | 4. | Biology. a group of individuals or species having a common ancestry: The various species of Darwin's finches form a closely knit genealogy. |
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–adjective 1. | agreeable, suitable, or pleasing in nature or character: congenial surroundings. | 2. | suited or adapted in spirit, feeling, temper, etc.; compatible: a congenial couple. |
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