mutation
/mjuˈteɪʃən/
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: mutations
Sense 1
Meaning · English
Any alteration or change.
Noun
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).
Sense 2
Meaning · English
Any heritable change of the base-pair sequence of genetic material.
Noun
Examples
Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “mutation” mean?
Any alteration or change.
Is “mutation” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.