telegony

T1E1L1E1G2O1N1Y4

noun

The belief that, in the case of siblings from the same mother but different fathers, the second sibling could inherit characteristics from the father of the first.

Scrabble 12
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Meanings

nountelegony (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe belief that, in the case of siblings from the same mother but different fathers, the second sibling could inherit characteristics from the father of the first.

    "And that telegony is still sub judice?" "Undoubtedly." "And that the germ plasm is different from the parthenogenetic egg?" "Why, surely!" I cried, and gloried in my own audacity.

    1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

Origin

From tele- + -gony.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French télégonie
  • télégonieinheritance of the characteristics of a non-biological father
German Telegonie
  • Telegonieinheritance of the characteristics of a non-biological father
Italian telegonia
  • telegoniainheritance of the characteristics of a non-biological father
Korean 감응유전
  • 감응유전 (gameung'yujeon)inheritance of the characteristics of a non-biological father

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

negolyte
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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