遗传 meaning in English

yíchuán

heredity; to inherit (a trait)

HSK 4verbTraditional 遺傳18 strokes

Meaning of 遗传

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

yíchuán
  1. heredity
  2. to inherit (a trait)
  3. to pass on (to one's offspring)

How to use 遗传

遗传 is used for biological traits passed from parents to children, and it often appears after a subject in patterns like 是遗传的 or 遗传了. Example: 他的高个子是遗传他爸爸的。 (Tā de gāo gèzi shì yíchuán tā bàba de.) His height is inherited from his dad.

遗 (yí) means something left behind, as in 遗产 (yíchǎn) legacy, and 传 (chuán) means to pass on, as in 传统 (chuántǒng) tradition. Together, 遗传 is what your parents leave behind and pass on to you: your genes and traits.

Common mistake: Learners often use 遗传 for inheriting money or property, but that is 继承 (jìchéng), as in 继承遗产 (jìchéng yíchǎn) to inherit an estate. Also, 传 here is read chuán, not zhuàn as in 传记 (zhuànjì) biography.

遗传 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

知zhī识shí不bú是shì遗yí传chuán的de。
Knowledge is not heritable.
通tōng过guò遗yí传chuán修xiū饰shì,我wǒ们men可kě以yǐ改gǎi良liáng农nóng作zuò物wù。
Through genetic modification, we can improve crops.
我wǒ们men的de遗yí传chuán基jī因yīn真zhēn的de和hé黑hēi猩xīng猩xīng几jī乎hū一yī样yàng吗ma?
Is it true that our genetic heritage is almost the same as that of chimpanzees?

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

遗 yí · to lose · 12 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12

传 chuán · to pass on · 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

Related words

Words that share a character with 遗传.

传说chuánshuōlegend; folk tale; to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that...
宣传xuānchuánto disseminate; to give publicity to
传播chuánbōto disseminate; to propagate; to spread
传来chuánlái(of a sound) to come through; to be heard
传统chuántǒngtradition; traditional
遗产yíchǎnheritage; legacy
流传liúchuánto spread; to circulate; to hand down
传达chuándáto pass on; to convey
传递chuándìto transmit; to pass on to sb else; (math.) transitive
传真chuánzhēnto fax; a fax
遗憾yíhànregret; to regret
传言chuányánrumor; hearsay

Questions about 遗传

What does 遗传 mean?

遗传 (yíchuán) means "heredity; to inherit (a trait)" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 遗传?

遗传 is made of 2 characters: 遗 (12 strokes), 传 (6 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.

Is 遗传 an HSK word?

Yes. 遗传 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 遗传 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 遗传 is written 遺傳.

How do you say genetic disease in Chinese?

A genetic disease is 遗传病 (yíchuánbìng). You can also say 遗传疾病 (yíchuán jíbìng) in more formal writing.

Can 遗传 be used as a noun?

Yes. It can mean heredity itself, as in 遗传和环境 (yíchuán hé huánjìng) heredity and environment. It also works as a modifier, as in 遗传因素 (yíchuán yīnsù) genetic factors.