allele

noun

al·​lele ə-ˈlēl 

1

: any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus (see locus sense 3)

2

: either of a pair of alternative Mendelian characters (see character entry 1 sense 1b(3)) (such as smooth and wrinkled seed in the pea)

allelic

ə-ˈlē-lik 

-ˈle-

adjective

allelism

ə-ˈlē-ˌli-zəm 

-ˈle-

noun

Examples of allele in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some of those people stayed in Africa and passed the segments to living Africans; others left and bequeathed the diverse alleles to Neanderthals. —science.org, 13 July 2024

Imagine someone whose ancestry is 5% African and 95% European, but who also happened to inherit breast cancer risk alleles that were only found in the African ancestry population. —Angus Chen, STAT, 21 May 2024

The researchers posited that these correlations could be an evolutionary explanation for why bisexual alleles and behavior persist in the human population. —Lauren Leffer, Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2024

According to conventional wisdom, having a wider range of MHC alleles increases a litter’s chance of resisting parasites and disease. —Joann C Gutin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

Word History

Etymology

perhaps as back-formation from allelism, from allel- (in allelomorph) + -ism

First Known Use

1921, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing allele

• multiple allele

Kids Definition

allele

noun

al·​lele ə-ˈlē(ə)l 

: one of several forms of a gene that determine alternate forms of one or more genetic traits and occupy identical places on two chromosomes having the same genes arranged in the same order

allelic

-ˈlē-lik 

-ˈlel-ik

adjective

Medical Definition

allele

noun

al·​lele ə-ˈlē(ə)l 

1

: any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus

2

: either of a pair of alternative Mendelian characters (as ability versus inability to taste the chemical phenylthiocarbamide)

allelic

-ˈlē-lik  -ˈlel-ik 

adjective

allelism

-ˈlē(ə)l-ˌiz-əm  -ˈlel-ˌiz- 

noun