Mutated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Altered from the original state, often through genetic change or environmental influence
2. Changed in structure or function, commonly as a result of genetic mutations or adaptive processes
3. Having undergone a genetic alteration that differentiates it from the original form

Etymology: "Mutated" is the past participle of "mutate," which comes from the Latin "mutare," meaning "to change" or "to move." Latin "mutare" was a common verb in Roman speech, and its basic sense was simply change, whether of place, state, or form. The Latin past participle "mutatus" carried that sense into English through the verb "mutate," so the word has always been about alteration rather than anything biological. The verb entered English through Latin in the early modern period, and it was used in its general sense of changing for centuries before biologists narrowed it. The biological sense of a heritable change in genetic material is a much later specialization, arising once scientists had a concept of the gene to describe.

Synonyms: changed, altered, transformed, modified

Antonyms: unchanged, static, stable