Clonal

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈkləʊnəl/

Definitions

1. Pertaining to organisms that are genetically identical due to reproduction from a single ancestor, indicating a uniform genetic makeup that minimizes diversity
2. Relating to the generation of identical genetic replicas through asexual means, suggesting a close genetic relationship derived from one origin
3. Characterizing forms of life that arise from a single parent through asexual reproduction, thus producing genetically identical individuals with little variation

Etymology: "Clonal" is about as plain as English etymology gets: it is simply "clone" with the adjective-forming suffix "-al" attached. The suffix itself has a long pedigree, having come into English through Middle English from Latin "-ālis", which was used to form adjectives meaning "relating to" or "of the nature of" a noun. The Latin form passed through Old French ("-el" and "-al") before settling into English, so the ending that makes "clonal" an adjective has been doing the same job for many centuries. The base word, "clone", is the one with the more striking story. It comes from Greek "klōn", meaning "twig" or "sprig", a reference to the way a new plant grows from a cutting. That botanical sense is what makes the modern meaning fit: a clonal organism descends from a single ancestor the way a cutting duplicates its parent plant.