mosaicism

M3O1S1A1I1C3I1S1M3

noun

The condition in which more than one genetically distinct population of cells coexist within one individual.

OriginEnglish mosaic ← Middle French mosaïque ← Italian mosaico →
UncommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounmosaicism (countable and uncountable, plural mosaicisms)

plural mosaicisms

  1. countableuncountablebiologyThe condition in which more than one genetically distinct population of cells coexist within one individual.

    Some but not all of the cells that made up the fetus […] had an extra chromosome on the twentieth pair. A mosaicism, it was called.

    2007, Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, 4th Estate (2010), page 14

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΜοῦσᾰ (Moûsă)
  2. Ancient GreekΜουσεῖον (Mouseîon)
  3. Ancient Greekμουσεῖον (mouseîon)
  4. Late Latinmūsīvum
  5. Medieval Latinmusaicum
  6. Italianmosaico
  7. Middle Frenchmosaïque
  8. Englishmosaic
  9. Englishmosaicism

From mosaic + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 鑲嵌現象 /镶嵌现象, 嵌合現象 /嵌合现象
  • 鑲嵌現象 /镶嵌现象 (xiāngqiàn xiànxiàng)condition
  • 嵌合現象 /嵌合现象 (qiànhé xiànxiàng)condition
  • 嵌合性 (qiànhéxìng)condition
Finnish mosaikismi
  • mosaikismicondition
Cite this entry
APA

mosaicism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mosaicism

MLA

“mosaicism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mosaicism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mosaicism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mosaicism.

Source: mosaicism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.