Meanings
present singular third person intercrosses · participle present intercrossing · participle past intercrossed · past intercrossed
- To cross back over one another
From this trunk, like a tower, rose an enormous tenfold ramification, the branches of which crossed and intercrossed, and forked and developed, […]
1895, Jules Verne, Captain Antifer, page 134 - biologyTo breed two strains having a common ancestry with one another
A species varies occasionally in two directions, but owing to their free intercrossing they (the variations) never increase.
1916, Alfred Russel Wallace, Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 1
plural intercrosses
- biologyThe act or product of intercrossing
Intercrosses are particularly useful with recessive mutations maintained in a small colony.
2000, Xavier Montagutelli, “Determining the Genetic Basis of a New Trait”, in Sundberg & Boggess, editors, Systematic Approach to Evaluation of Mouse Mutations, →ISBN, page 20
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁n̥tér
- Proto-Italic*n̥ter
- Latininter
- Latininter-
- Englishinter-
- Englishcross
- Englishintercross
Translations
Bulgarian пресичам се, кръстосвам
- пресичам се (presičam se)To cross back over one another
- кръстосвам (krăstosvam)(biology, genetics) to breed
- хибрид (hibrid)The act or product of intercrossing
Cite this entry
intercross. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intercross
“intercross.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intercross. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “intercross,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intercross.
Source: intercross on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.