Diploid

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  diploid \dip"loid\ (d[i^]p"loid), n. [Gr. diplo`os twofold +
     -oid.]
     1. (Crystallog.) A solid bounded by twenty-four similar
        quadrilateral faces. It is a hemihedral form of the
        hexoctahedron.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Biol.) a cell or organism having a number of chromosomes
        corresponding to two copies of each chromosome; a diploid
        cell or organism.
        [PJC]
  
              A: I'm not interested in diploids.
              B: Oh, how I wish your parents had felt the same
              way!

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  diploid \dip"loid\ (d[i^]p"loid), a. [Gr. diplo`os twofold +
     -oid.] (Biol.)
     having a number of chromosomes corresponding to two copies of
     each chromosome; having double the basic number of
     chromosomes, as seen in a haploid cell. Contrasted to
     {haploid} and {polyploid}.
  
     Note: in diploid cells, although the number of chromosomes is
           double that in haploid cells, it is not always true
           that there are two copies of every chromosome, since
           the two sex chromosomes in males will differ from each
           other. In females, and for other chromosomes, however,
           there are generally two copies of each, giving rise to
           the classical hereditary and sorting patterns of
           Mendelian genetics.
           [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  diploid
       adj : of a cell or organism having two sets of chromosomes or
             twice the haploid number; "diploid somatic cells" [ant:
              {polyploid}, {haploid}]
       n : (genetics) an organism or cell having two sets of
           chromosomes or twice the haploid number