X chromosome

See also: X-chromosome

English

Alternative forms

X-chromosome

Etymology

Named by Hermann Henking in 1890 from x (signifying the unknown) due to some baffling properties he had observed. The brief resemblance in the appearance of the X and Y chromosomes to the letters "X" and "Y" respectively during cell division is entirely coincidental.[1]

Noun

X chromosome (plural X chromosomes)

(genetics) A mammalian sex chromosome. Cells of females have a pair of X chromosomes while cells of males have an X and a Y.

Related terms

X-linked trait
Y chromosome

Translations

a mammalian sex chromosome

Finnish: X-kromosomi (fi)
Irish: X-chrómasóm m

Romanian: cromozom X m
Swedish: X-kromosom (sv) c

References

David Bainbridge, The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives, pages 65-66, →ISBN.

[1] David Bainbridge, The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives, pages 65-66, →ISBN.