Gmos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Genetically modified organisms, which are living entities whose DNA has been altered through genetic engineering techniques for specific traits
2. Organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated to enhance desired characteristics, such as resistance to pests or improved nutrition
3. Entities in agriculture or biotechnology that have undergone modification to introduce new genetic traits for improved performance or productivity

Etymology: "GMO" is an initialism of "genetically modified organism," and each of its three words has an older meaning than its current use. "Organism" comes ultimately from the Greek "organon," meaning a tool or instrument, so a living body was first pictured as a kind of working device. "Modify" traces back through Latin "modificare" to "modus," meaning measure, so to modify was originally to keep something within proper limits. "Genetic" descends from Greek "genesis," meaning origin or birth, and the English biologist William Bateson is credited with proposing "genetics" as the name for the study of heredity. The plural "GMOs" simply adds an "s" to the abbreviation. Like many acronyms built from technical phrases, it compresses a long description into a label that people can use in everyday speech, and the label is narrower than its parts suggest: it refers specifically to organisms altered through genetic engineering, not to every living thing that has been bred over generations.

Synonyms: genetically modified organisms