# chromosome

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɹəʊ.məˌsəʊm/ · frequency rank #15,363

## Definitions
1. A linear arrangement of condensed DNA and associated proteins (such as chaperone proteins) which contains the genetic material (genome) of an organism.

## Etymology
19th century: from German Chromosom, ultimately from Ancient Greek χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour”) + σῶμα (sôma, “body”) (because they are stained under the microscope). Equivalent to chromo- + -some.

## Easily confused with
- **chromosomal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chromosomal-vs-chromosome)

## Common misspellings (15)
`cchromosome`, `chhromosome`, `chormosome`, `chrmoosome`, `chrommosome`, `chromoosme`, `chromosmoe`, `chromosoem`, `chromosomme`, `chromossome`, `chromsoome`, `chroomsome`, `chrromosome`, `crhomosome`, `hcromosome`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/chromosome