When you hear 'clone' are you hearing English or Greek?

'Clone' is a word borrowed from Greek 'klōn'. The word entered the English language some time around 1903.

clone [noun] [1903]

• the aggregate of genetically identical cells or organisms asexually produced by a single progenitor cell or organism
• an individual grown from a single somatic cell or cell nucleus and genetically identical to it
• a group of replicas of all or part of a macromolecule and especially DNA
• one that appears to be a copy of an original form
• duplicate

See 'clone' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Greek.

Etymology: Greek 'klōn' twig, slip; akin to Greek 'klan' to break

See more loan words from 1900s.