Mitochondrial Eve

noun

The matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all currently living humans, i.e., the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an unbroken line purely through their mothers, and through the mothers of those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounMitochondrial Eve (plural Mitochondrial Eves)

plural Mitochondrial Eves

  1. biologyThe matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all currently living humans, i.e., the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an unbroken line purely through their mothers, and through the mothers of those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
african eve

Origin

In reference to Eve, the first woman according to the Bible.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Mitochondrial Eve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mitochondrial%20Eve

MLA

“Mitochondrial Eve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mitochondrial%20Eve. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mitochondrial Eve,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mitochondrial%20Eve.

Source: Mitochondrial Eve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.