# gene

> English word · Noun · IPA /d͡ʒiːn/ · frequency rank #3,883

## Definitions
1. A theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms which may take several values and (in principle) predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form (phenotype), such as hair color.
2. A segment of DNA or RNA from a cell's or an organism's genome, that may take several forms and thus parameterizes a phenomenon, such as (often) the structure of a protein.

## Etymology
From German Gen, from Ancient Greek γενεά (geneá, “generation, descent”), from the aorist infinitive of γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “to come into being”). Coined by Danish botanist Wilhelm Ludwig Johannsen in 1909, in a German-language publication, from the last syllable of pangene.

## Easily confused with
- **get** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-get)
- **gun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gun)
- **gin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gin)
- **ger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-ger)
- **GNU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gnu)
- **GRE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gre)
- **GYN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gyn)
- **gnc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gnc)
- **give** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-give)
- **gets** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gets)
- **gone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gone)
- **guns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-guns)
- **glen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-glen)
- **glue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-glue)
- **gore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gore)
- **gina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gina)
- **glee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-glee)
- **Gwen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gwen)
- **gong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gong)
- **Gunn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gene-vs-gunn)

## Common misspellings (5)
`egne`, `geen`, `genne`, `ggene`, `gnee`

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