epigenetics
/ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪks/noun
epigenetics is spelled E-P-I-G-E-N-E-T-I-C-S: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, epigenetics means “The study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in epigenetics?
| Letters | 11: E-P-I-G-E-N-E-T-I-C-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 59,387th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is epigenetics?
Epigenetics appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce epigenetics?
- /ˌɛpɪd͡ʒəˈnɛtɪks/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-epigenetics.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does epigenetics mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes.
- 2
The study of heritable changes caused by the activation and deactivation of genes without any change in DNA sequence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Epigenetics in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense study of processes:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | épigénétique |
| German | Epigenetik |
| Portuguese | epigenética |
| Spanish | epigenética |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does epigenetics come from?
Blend of epigenesis + genetics; coined by British biologist and geneticist C. H. Waddington in 1942.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).