- 1 [uncountable, countable] (biology) a process in which the genetic material of a person, a plant or an animal changes in structure when it is passed on to children, etc., causing different physical characteristics to develop; a change of this kind cells affected by mutation genetic mutations Wordfinderbiologybiology, biotechnology, breed, cell, chromosome, DNA, gene, mutation, organism, protein Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivechance, random, common, … verb + mutationcarry, contain, acquire, … mutation + verbarise, occur, affect something, … mutation + nounfrequency, rate See full entry See related entries: Genetic engineering, Cell biology
- 2[uncountable, countable] a change in the form or structure of something (linguistics) vowel mutation In Celtic languages such as Welsh, there is a process of mutation affecting the beginning sound of a word, according to the word which comes before it. the mutation of ethnic politics into nationalist politics Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin mutatio(n-), from mutare ‘to change’.Extra examples The genetic material has suffered a mutation. The protein contained a mutation. These cells carry a mutation affecting the prevention mechanism. The disease is caused by genetic mutations. These cells have been affected by mutation. This essay examines the mutation of ethnic politics into nationalist politics.
mutation
nounBrE BrE//mjuːˈteɪʃn//; NAmE NAmE//mjuːˈteɪʃn//
Genetic engineering, Cell biologyCheck pronunciation: mutation
