Mendel's law
1
5.2
- noun
- /ˈmɛndəlz lɔ/
- Specialized
- Genetic research definitely supports the reality of the gene and the validity of Mendel's laws.
Examples
-
With roots in the 19th century, the eugenics movement emerged as a major social force in the United States following the 1900 rediscovery of Mendel's laws of inheritance.
Academic text (2011) -
The concept of Mendel's law helps us understand how characteristics are inherited from one generation to the next.
-
In 1901, when Haldane was only eight years old, his father took him to the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club to hear the geneticist A. D. Darbishire talk about the rediscovery of Mendel's laws.
Academic text (1992) -
Many scientists study Mendel's law to explore the basics of genetic inheritance.
-
The principles of Mendel's law are fundamental to the field of genetics.
Synonyms
1
4.8
A scientific idea that explains how traits pass from parents to children in living things
1
8.7
A theory that traits pass from parents to children by simple rules discovered by Gregor Mendel
1
9.2
Rules that explain how parents pass on traits to their children, based on Mendel's experiments
Surface Forms
Morphology
Mendel's + law
The structure is compositionally transparent: 'Mendel's' (a person's name) + 'law' straightforwardly yields 'the law named after Mendel,' a pattern common across languages. However, the specific content—that it refers to the two principles of heredity—requires background knowledge of Mendel and genetics, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not be able to infer the full meaning.
Etymology
Mendel's law comes from Gregor Mendel, a scientist who grew peas and watched traits like tall or short and green or yellow being passed from parents to children. He found simple, repeatable patterns and called them a 'law', so today Mendel's law means the basic rules that tell how traits are passed from parents to children.