phenocopy

P3H4E1N1O1C3O1P3Y4

noun

A phenotypic variation (in an organism) that resembles a phenotype from a genetic cause but has an environmental rather than genetic cause (and thus is not inherited).

OriginEnglish copy ← Middle English copy →
Scrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounphenocopy (plural phenocopies)

plural phenocopies

  1. biologyA phenotypic variation (in an organism) that resembles a phenotype from a genetic cause but has an environmental rather than genetic cause (and thus is not inherited).
verbphenocopy (third-person singular simple present phenocopies, present participle phenocopying, simple past and past participle phenocopied)

present singular third person phenocopies · participle present phenocopying · participle past phenocopied · past phenocopied

  1. biologyTo copy a genetic variation through environmental manipulation.

    The wg- mutant can be phenocopied by injecting antisense RNA (complementary to the 3 kb wg+ transcript) into wild-type embryos.

    1990, David de Pomerai, From Gene to Animal, →ISBN, page 275

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
phenoconvert

Origin

  1. Englishpheno-
  2. Middle Englishcopy
  3. Englishcopy
  4. Englishphenocopy

From pheno- + copy.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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