¹dominant

adjective dom·i·nant \-nənt\

: more important, powerful, or successful than most or all others

: most common

biology : causing or relating to a characteristic or condition that a child will have if one of the child's parents has it

Full Definition of DOMINANT

a : commanding, controlling, or prevailing over all others <the dominant culture>

b : very important, powerful, or successful <a dominant theme> <a dominant industry>

: overlooking and commanding from a superior position <a dominant hill>

: of, relating to, or exerting ecological or genetic dominance

: being the one of a pair of bodily structures that is the more effective or predominant in action <dominant eye>

— dom·i·nant·ly adverb

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Origin of DOMINANT

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin dominant-, dominans, present participle of dominari

First Known Use: circa 1532

Related to DOMINANT

Synonyms: arch, big, capital, cardinal, central, chief, foremost, first, grand, great, greatest, highest, key, leading, main, master, number one (also No. 1), numero uno, overbearing, overmastering, overriding, paramount, predominant, preeminent, premier, primal, primary, principal, prior, sovereign (also sovran), supreme

Antonyms: last, least

Synonym Discussion of DOMINANT

dominant, predominant, paramount, preponderant mean superior to all others in influence or importance. dominant applies to something that is uppermost because ruling or controlling <a dominant social class>. predominant applies to something that exerts, often temporarily, the most marked influence <a predominant emotion>. paramount implies supremacy in importance, rank, or jurisdiction <unemployment was the paramount issue in the campaign>. preponderant applies to an element or factor that outweighs all others in influence or effect <preponderant evidence in her favor>.

Other Genetics Terms

chimera, hermaphrodite, plasticity

²dominant

noun

Definition of DOMINANT

: the fifth tone of a major or minor scale

a : a dominant genetic character or factor

b : any of one or more kinds of organism (as a species) in an ecological community that exerts a controlling influence on the environment and thereby largely determines what other kinds of organisms are present

c : a dominant individual in a social hierarchy