mendelian: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk and scientist in the 19th century. He is considered the founder of modern genetics for his pioneering work on pea plants, where he discovered the fundamental laws of inheritance. The adjective 'mendelian' honours his work.

It is often capitalized ('Mendelian') when directly referring to Mendel's work or laws. In less formal or more generalised use (e.g., 'mendelian ratios'), it may appear in lowercase. Both forms are accepted, but capitalization is more common in academic texts.

Yes. Incomplete dominance (where a heterozygote shows a blended phenotype, like pink flowers from red and white parents), codominance (like AB blood type), and polygenic inheritance (where a trait is controlled by many genes, like human height) are all examples of non-mendelian inheritance.

Very rarely. It is occasionally used metaphorically in other disciplines (e.g., philosophy, computer science) to describe a binary, predictable, or simplistic system, often in contrast to more complex models. This usage is niche and should be understood as an analogy.

Relating to the inheritance patterns discovered by Gregor Mendel, especially referring to traits controlled by single genes and following predictable ratios.

Mendelian is usually academic / scientific / technical in register.

Mendelian: in British English it is pronounced /mɛnˈdiː.li.ən/, and in American English it is pronounced /mɛnˈdi.li.ən/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.