Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sex chromatin

sex chromatin

8.4
A small dark spot inside a cell nucleus that shows a second X chromosome in female cells
  • noun
  • /sɛks ˈkroʊməˌtɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cromatina sexual
  • In females, one X chromosome forms the sex chromatin in somatic cell nuclei.

Examples

  • Presence of sex chromatin is often used for gender determination in forensic analysis.

  • The laboratory technician identified the sex chromatin in the cell sample.

  • The presence of sex chromatin indicates the female sex.

  • Researchers study sex chromatins to understand genetic disorders.

  • In females, one X chromosome forms the sex chromatin in somatic cell nuclei.

  • Presence of sex chromatin is often used for gender determination in forensic analysis.

  • The laboratory technician identified the sex chromatin in the cell sample.

Surface Forms

sex chromatin singular
sex chromatins plural

Morphology

sex + chromatin

The compound transparently signals chromatin related to sex — a learner who knows 'sex' and 'chromatin' can infer it is chromatin with a role in sex determination. However, the specific technical sense (a female-only mass and a cytological marker of two X chromosomes) is specialized biological knowledge beyond predictable composition, so the relation is only partially obvious.

Etymology

Sex chromatin comes from what scientists see under a microscope: a dark clump of chromatin, the material in the cell that holds genes. They used sex because this clump shows a cell has 'two X chromosomes', so the name became a quick 'marker' for 'female'.