Meanings
plural autosomes
- biologyAny eukaryotic chromosome other than sex chromosomes.
Autosoma (or autosome), the usual or non-aberrant chromosomes, called by me previously ordinary chromosomes.
1906 January 5, Thos. H. Montgomery, “The terminology of aberrant chromosomes and their behavivor in certain Hemiptera”, in Science, volume 23, number 575, page 361 more example
It is apparently formed by the arms of the loops becoming twisted around each other, and, as in the Acrididae, each of these arms no doubt represents a univalent autosome.
1908, Herbert Spencer Davis, Spermatogenesis in Acrididae and Locustidae
Synonyms & antonyms
nounany chromosome that is not a sex chromosome; appear in pairs in body cells but as single chromosomes in spermatozoa
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekσῶμα“body”
- Englishautosome
From auto- + -some, from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan autosoma
- autosomaany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Chinese Mandarin 常染色體 /常染色体
- 常染色體 /常染色体 (cháng rǎnsètǐ)any chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Dutch autosoom
- autosoomany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Finnish autosomi
- autosomiany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
French autosome
- autosomeany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Italian autosoma
- autosomaany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Japanese 常染色体
- 常染色体 (jōsenshokutai)any chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Korean 상염색체
- 상염색체 (sang'yeomsaekche)any chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Polish autosom
- autosomany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Portuguese autossoma
- autossomaany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Romanian autozom
- autozomany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Spanish autosoma
- autosomaany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Swedish autosom
- autosomany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Turkish otozom
- otozomany chromosome other than sex chromosomes
Cite this entry
autosome. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autosome
“autosome.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autosome. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “autosome,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autosome.
Source: autosome on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.