X chromosome
noun
Forms X chromosomes X-chromosome
- noun (genetics) A mammalian sex chromosome: in the XY sex-determination system, cells of females typically have a pair of X chromosomes, while cells of males typically have an X and a Y.
Etymology
Named by Hermann Henking in 1890 from x (signifying the unknown) due to some baffling properties he had observed. The brief resemblance in the appearance of the X and Y chromosomes to the letters "X" and "Y" respectively during cell division is entirely coincidental.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “X chromosome”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details