Recombines

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To merge elements together again into a different structure
2. To unite or rearrange genetic sequences into new combinations
3. The process of mixing pieces of genetic code to produce novel arrangements

Etymology: "Recombines" is the third-person singular present form of "recombine," so the history belongs to the verb itself. It is formed from the prefix "re-," meaning "again" or "back," attached to "combine." The verb "combine" came into English in the Middle English period, borrowed through Old French from Latin "combinare," meaning to join two things together, and "re-" came into English along the same route, with its ultimate roots in Latin "re-." The sense that matters for biology, reordering genetic material, is a specialised modern extension of the ordinary meaning. Put simply, a recombining molecule or chromosome has been joined again in a new arrangement, and the "re-" carries the idea of starting from pieces that already existed. The word is a transparent compound, so its history is largely that of its two parts.

Synonyms: reunites, mixes, merges, integrates, consolidates

Antonyms: separates, divides, disintegrates, dissociates, isolates