Meanings
nounchromosome (plural chromosomes)
plural chromosomes
- biologyA linear arrangement of condensed DNA and associated proteins (such as chaperone proteins) which contains the genetic material (genome) of an organism.
Chromosomes store genetic information.
1 more example
A length of DNA is divided into segments called chromosomes and shorter individual units called genes.
2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 7
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
- Ancient Greekχρῶμα“colour”
- GermanChromosom
- Englishchromosome
19th century: from German Chromosom, ultimately from Ancient Greek χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour”) + σῶμα (sôma, “body”) (because they are stained under the microscope). Equivalent to chromo- + -some.
More words from German, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic كْرُومُوسُوم, صِبْغِيّ
- كْرُومُوسُوم (krumusūm)structure in the cell nucleus
- صِبْغِيّ (ṣibḡiyy)structure in the cell nucleus
Bengali তন্তুসদৃশ বস্তু
- তন্তুসদৃশ বস্তু (tontuśodriś bostu)structure in the cell nucleus
Bulgarian хромозо́ма, хромозо́м
- хромозо́ма (hromozóma)structure in the cell nucleus
- хромозо́м (hromozóm)structure in the cell nucleus
Catalan cromosoma
- cromosomastructure in the cell nucleus
Chinese Mandarin 染色體 /染色体
- 染色體 /染色体 (rǎnsètǐ)structure in the cell nucleus
Czech chromozom
- chromozomstructure in the cell nucleus
Danish kromosom
- kromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Dutch chromosoom
- chromosoomstructure in the cell nucleus
Esperanto kromosomo
- kromosomostructure in the cell nucleus
Estonian kromosoom
- kromosoomstructure in the cell nucleus
Finnish kromosomi
- kromosomistructure in the cell nucleus
French chromosome
- chromosomestructure in the cell nucleus
German Chromosom
- Chromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Greek χρωμόσωμα
- χρωμόσωμα (chromósoma)structure in the cell nucleus
Hebrew כְרוֹמוֹזוֹם
- כְרוֹמוֹזוֹם (kromosom)structure in the cell nucleus
Hindi गुणसूत्र, गुण सूत्र
- गुणसूत्र (guṇsūtra)structure in the cell nucleus
- गुण सूत्र (guṇ sūtra)structure in the cell nucleus
Hungarian kromoszóma
- kromoszómastructure in the cell nucleus
Icelandic litningur
- litningurstructure in the cell nucleus
Indonesian kromosom
- kromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Irish crómasóm
- crómasómstructure in the cell nucleus
Italian cromosoma
- cromosomastructure in the cell nucleus
Japanese 染色体
- 染色体 (senshokutai)structure in the cell nucleus
Korean 염색체, 물들체
- 염색체 (yeomsaekche)structure in the cell nucleus
- 물들체 (muldeulche)structure in the cell nucleus
Latvian hromosoma
- hromosomastructure in the cell nucleus
Lithuanian chromosoma
- chromosomastructure in the cell nucleus
Māori pūira
- pūirastructure in the cell nucleus
Norwegian Bokmål kromosom
- kromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Persian رنگین تن, فامتن
- رنگین تن (rangin tan)structure in the cell nucleus
- فامتن (fāmtan)structure in the cell nucleus
Polish chromosom
- chromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Portuguese cromossoma, cromossomo
- cromossomastructure in the cell nucleus
- cromossomostructure in the cell nucleus
Punjabi ਗੁਣਸੂਤਰ
- ਗੁਣਸੂਤਰ (guṇsūtar)structure in the cell nucleus
Romanian cromozom
- cromozomstructure in the cell nucleus
Russian хромосо́ма
- хромосо́ма (xromosóma)structure in the cell nucleus
Slovak chromozóm
- chromozómstructure in the cell nucleus
Spanish cromosoma
- cromosomastructure in the cell nucleus
Swahili chembeuzi
- chembeuzistructure in the cell nucleus
Swedish kromosom
- kromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Tagalog kromosoma
- kromosomastructure in the cell nucleus
Tamil நிறப்புரி, நிறமூர்த்தம்
- நிறப்புரி (niṟappuri)structure in the cell nucleus
- நிறமூர்த்தம் (niṟamūrttam)structure in the cell nucleus
Thai โครโมโซม
- โครโมโซม (kroo-moo-soom)structure in the cell nucleus
Turkish kromozom
- kromozomstructure in the cell nucleus
Ukrainian хромосо́ма
- хромосо́ма (xromosóma)structure in the cell nucleus
Vietnamese chất sinh sắt, nhiểm sắc thể
- chất sinh sắtstructure in the cell nucleus
- nhiểm sắc thểstructure in the cell nucleus
Welsh cromosom
- cromosomstructure in the cell nucleus
Yiddish כראָמאָסאָם
- כראָמאָסאָם (khromosom)structure in the cell nucleus
Cite this entry
APA
chromosome. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chromosome
MLA
“chromosome.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chromosome. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chromosome,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chromosome.
Source: chromosome on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.