Genics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The science concerned with the study of heredity, genes, and how traits pass from parents to offspring
2. The biological field that examines how characteristics are inherited and how genetic material functions in living organisms
3. The study of heredity and the mechanisms by which organisms transmit traits to their descendants through genetic material

Etymology: "Genics" is not a standalone English word. It is a combining form, the ending of words like "eugenics," which Francis Galton coined from the Greek "eu," meaning "good," and the root "genos," meaning birth, race, or kind. Galton used the term for the study of improving human heredity. The ending splits into two Greek parts. "-genic" comes from "-genēs," meaning "born of" or "producing," and is built on the root "gen-," meaning "to produce." "-ics" comes from the Greek neuter plural of adjectives, which English adopted to name a systematic field of study, as in "physics" and "ethics." Together, "-genics" names an organised body of knowledge about how things are produced or inherited.

Synonyms: genetics