mutation : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: mutation	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for mutation
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
mutation n (biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration Synonym(s): mutant, mutation, variation, sport (genetics) any event that changes genetic structure; any alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence of the genotype of an organism Synonym(s): mutation, genetic mutation, chromosomal mutation a change or alteration in form or qualities
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Mutation \Mu*ta"tion\, n. [L. mutatio, fr. mutare to change: cf. F. mutation. See {Mutable}.] Change; alteration, either in form or qualities. The vicissitude or mutations in the superior globe are no fit matter for this present argument. --Bacon.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Mutation \Mu*ta"tion\, n. 1. (Biol.) Gradual definitely tending variation, such as may be observed in a group of organisms in the fossils of successive geological levels. 2. (Biol.) (a) As now employed (first by de Vries), a sudden variation (the offspring differing from its parents in some well-marked character or characters) as distinguished from a gradual variations in which the new characters become fully developed only in the course of many generations. The occurrence of mutations, and the hereditary transmission, under some conditions, of the characters so appearing, are well-established facts; whether the process has played an important part in the evolution of the existing species and other groups of organisms is a disputed question. (b) The result of the above process; a suddenly produced variation.