noun
pl. -·gies- the quality or state of being homologous
- a homologous correspondence or relationship, as of animal organs, chemical compounds, etc.
Origin of homology
Late Latin homologia from Gr: see homo- and -logy
noun
The definition of homology is two or more things having the same position or structure.
An example of homology in biology is the human arm and the wing of a bird.
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homology
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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homology
noun
pl. ho·mol·o·gies- The quality or condition of being homologous.
- A homologous relationship or correspondence.
- Chemistry a. The relation of the elements of a periodic family or group.b. The relation of the organic compounds forming a homologous series.
- Mathematics A topological classification of configurations into distinct types that imposes an algebraic structure or hierarchy on families of geometric figures.
Origin of homology
Greek homologiā agreement from homologos agreeing ; see homologous .THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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- A homologous relationship or correspondence.
- The relation of the chemical elements of a periodic family or group.
- The relation of the organic compounds forming a homologous series.
- A topological classification of configurations into distinct types that imposes an algebraic structure or hierarchy on families of geometric figures.
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Noun
(plural homologies)
- A homologous relationship.
- (biology) A correspondence of structures in two life forms with a common evolutionary origin, such as flippers and hands.
- (chemistry) The relationship between the elements in the same group of the periodic table, or between organic compounds in a homologous series.
- (mathematics) A theory associating a system of quotient groups to each topological space.
- (mathematics) A system of quotient groups associated to a topological space.
- (genetics) The presence of the same series of bases in related genes.
Usage notes
- Like many terms that start with a (non-silent) h and have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede homology with an, others with a.
- (biology): For a discussion of the use of the term homology (by association homologous) in biology, see: Patterson, Colin. "Homology in Classical and Molecular Biology." Molecular Biology and Evolution 5, no. 6 (November 1988): 603–625. http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/5/6/603.pdf (accessed 18 December 2009; archived 18 December 2009, http://www.webcitation.org/5m7rn4rCe)
- (mathematics): When used attributively before the name of a topological space, as in "homology n-sphere" or "homology manifold", the reference is to a space whose homology is the same as that of the space mentioned: an homology manifold, for example, is a space whose homology is that of some manifold.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"Homology." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Homology.
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Homology. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Homology
Sentence Examples
- Although the name of continent was not applied to large portions of land for any physical reasons, it so happens that there is a certain physical similarity or homology between them which is not shared by the smaller islands or peninsulas.
- The homology of members was based, in the first instance, upon similarity of development and upon similar relations to the other parts of the body, that is, upon ontogeny.
- It is the old distinction between homology and analogy on a grand scale.
- Homogeny, in contrast, the " special homology " of Owen, is the supreme test of kinship or of hereditary relationship, and thus the basis of all sound reasoning in phylogeny.
- For, whereas to one brilliant suggestion of far-reaching homology another can always be opposed, by the detailed comparison of individual growth-stages in carefully selected series of fossils, and by the minute application to these of the principle that individual history repeats race history, it actually is possible to unfold lines of descent that do not admit of doubt.
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