polyploidy

Definition

The condition of being polyploid or the process of becoming polyploid.

Etymology

From polyploid + -y, after German Polyploidie.

Example Sentences

• "As they mature, the DNA is replicated several times but the cell does not divide, a condition known as polyploidy which allows cells to increase in size."
• "This propensity to polyploidy helps account for the diversity (and thus success) of flowering plants, in particular. It is also known that flowering plants sailed majestically through the life-destroying asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous period, which did for the dinosaurs and many other animals."