single-locus
|sin-gle-lo-cus|
🇺🇸
/ˈsɪŋɡəl ˈloʊkəs/
🇬🇧
/ˈsɪŋɡəl ˈləʊkəs/
one genetic location
Etymology
'single-locus' is a modern English compound formed from 'single' and 'locus', used especially in scientific and genetic contexts.
'single' originates from Latin 'sīngulus' via Old French and Middle English meaning 'one, individual'; 'locus' originates from Latin 'locus' meaning 'place' and was adopted into English as a technical term (especially in biology and mathematics). The compound 'single-locus' arose in 20th-century scientific English to describe phenomena associated with one locus.
Initially, 'locus' simply meant 'place' in Latin; in scientific usage it came to mean 'a specific position on a chromosome', and 'single-locus' developed to denote things associated with a single such position (a meaning that has remained stable in genetics).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a situation or model in genetics in which variation or effect is attributed to a single locus.
Researchers studied the single-locus responsible for the disease in that family.
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Adjective 1
relating to or involving a single locus (a specific position on a chromosome); determined by variation at one genetic locus.
A single-locus trait is controlled by variation at one genetic locus.
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Last updated: 2025/12/08 02:25