Trait

How it is used

A key word in genetics and evolution. People talk about inherited traits, dominant and recessive traits, and traits that are passed on to offspring. In formal writing, 'trait' is preferred to 'feature' or 'property' for a biological characteristic.

Example sentences

1. Mendel studied seven traits in pea plants, including seed shape and flower color.

2. Antibiotic resistance is a trait that can spread quickly through a bacterial population.

Common collocations

• inherited trait
• dominant trait
• recessive trait
• pass on a trait
• physical trait

Related terms

• geneA section of DNA that carries the instructions for making a particular protein or functional RNA. Genes are the basic units of heredity passed from parents to offspring.
• alleleOne of the different versions of the same gene. For example, a gene for flower color may have one allele for purple flowers and another for white.
• phenotypeThe observable characteristics of an organism, such as height, color or blood type, which result from its genotype together with the environment.
• inheritTo receive genes, and the traits they control, from your parents. A trait that is inherited is passed from one generation to the next.
• dominantDescribing an allele whose effect shows in the organism even when only one copy is present. It hides the effect of a recessive allele.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• trait · Psychology
• trait · Genetics & Biotechnology

More terms: Genetics and Heredity

• DNA
• chromosome
• mutation
• meiosis
• genotype
• recessive
• RNA
• nucleotide
• gene expression
• transcription
• translation
• genome