inbreeding

American

[in-bree-ding] / ˈɪnˌbri dɪŋ /

noun

Biology.

the mating of closely related individuals, as cousins, sire-daughter, brother-sister, or self-fertilized plants, which tends to increase the number of individuals that are homozygous for a trait and therefore increases the appearance of recessive traits.

inbreeding Scientific

/ ĭn′brē′dĭng /

The breeding or mating of related individuals within an isolated or closed group of organisms or people. Inbreeding can result in inbreeding depression. However, in agriculture and animal husbandry, the continued breeding of closely related individuals can help to preserve desirable traits in a stock.

First recorded in 1835–45; inbreed + -ing ¹

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Medieval goats displayed a broader range of genetic variation, while modern Old Irish Goats show clear signs of inbreeding.

From Science Daily

In the meantime, populations are at risk of being wiped out by inbreeding, fierce wildfires or a number of other factors.

From Los Angeles Times

In many cases, one of their offspring takes over the reproductive role, which results in widespread inbreeding within colonies.

From Science Daily

In Southern California, lions have shown deformities from inbreeding, including kinked tails and malformed sperm.

From Los Angeles Times

This dispersal, as it's known, plays a role in avoiding inbreeding, spreading gene diversity and shaping social relationships.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023