genetics

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʒəˈnɛt.ɪks/, /dʒɪ-/^[1]

Etymology

It is from genetic with the suffix -ics,^[2][3][4] coined in its biological sense by the English biologist William Bateson.^[2][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The principles or laws of origination: 1872, a rare sense, now obsolete.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In 1896 the American sociologist Lester Ward used it for the study of natural development without human interference.^[3] The biological sense, the science of heredity and of variation passed down the generations, appears in a letter by Bateson of 18 April 1905,^[3][6] although Etymonline dates "study of heredity" to 1891.^[2] By extension it also means the genetic make-up of an organism or group.^[6][4]

Timeline

• 1872 – the laws of origination (obsolete).^[3][2]
• 1896 – in sociology (obsolete).^[3]
• 1905 – the science of heredity, in Bateson.^[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The branch of biology that studies heredity and how traits vary between related organisms.
2. The genetic make-up of an organism, species or group.

Word family

• geneticist
• biogenetics
• cytogenetics
• immunogenetics
• neurogenetics
• pharmacogenetics
• molecular genetics
• population genetics

Related words

• genetic
• gene
• genesis
• genome

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster