tetrasomy
- noun
- /ˈtɛtrəˌsoʊmi/
- Specialized
:
tetrasomía
- The geneticist explained that tetrasomy can lead to various physical and developmental challenges.
Examples
-
Partial tetrasomy of chromosome 22 was confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization.
Academic text (2004) -
It confirmed without a doubt—she had Cat Eye Syndrome tetrasomy in every cell of her body.
Blog text (11) -
Researchers discovered that tetrasomy of chromosome 18 is associated with specific health issues.
-
Diagnosis of tetrasomy often requires a special test to analyze the number of chromosome copies.
How Many
Surface Forms
Morphology
tetrasomy = tetra + somy
Although 'tetra-' means 'four', the combining element '-somy' is a technical morphological element referring to chromosome condition and is not a productive standalone English word, so the full meaning is not inferable by an average B1 learner from its parts.
Etymology
Tetrasomy comes from the parts tetra- meaning 'four' and -somy from Greek soma meaning 'body', the same root you see in chromosome. So, tetrasomy is easy to remember: it literally says 'four bodies', and it refers to having four copies of one chromosome instead of the usual two.