Etymograph

English

gene

Gene comes from German Gen, coined in 1909 by Johannsen from the last syllable of pangene; compare Greek γενεά ‘generation, descent’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγενεά1geneá‘generation, descent’
  2. Germanc. 1650–presentGen1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2013gene1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gene
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Karen McVeigh, US rules human genes can't be patented: “The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγενεάWiktionary, English genegeneá‘generation, descent’
  2. Germanc. 1650–presentGenWiktionary, English gene
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2013geneWiktionary, English gene. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2013, Karen McVeigh, US rules human genes can't be patented: “The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural…”

The story

Coined by Danish botanist Wilhelm Ludwig Johannsen in 1909, in a German-language publication, from the last syllable of pangene.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’

kind, king, nature, nation, native, german, pregnant, engine, indigenous, naive, genius, ken, kin, noel, genuine, gentle, transgender, innate, natal, nativity, nada, janata, genital, ingenious, nascent, germ, puny, degenerate, nee, cognate, degeneration, regenerate, jaunty, gentile, gingerly, azadi, genial, genteel, engender, genitive, 101 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race, lineage’

gender, oxygen, hydrogen, genre, genuinely, genocide, regeneration, genus, glycogen, estrogenic, 31 more

Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gene”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek γενεά / gene

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