from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
diploid
adj 1: of a cell or organism having two sets of chromosomes or
twice the haploid number; "diploid somatic cells" [ant:
{haploid}, {haploidic}, {monoploid}, {polyploid}]
n 1: (genetics) an organism or cell having the normal amount of
DNA per cell; i.e., two sets of chromosomes or twice the
haploid number
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
diploid \dip"loid\ (d[i^]p"loid), n. [Gr. diplo`os twofold +
-oid.]
1. (Crystallog.) A solid bounded by twenty-four similar
quadrilateral faces. It is a hemihedral form of the
hexoctahedron.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Biol.) a cell or organism having a number of chromosomes
corresponding to two copies of each chromosome; a diploid
cell or organism.
[PJC]
A: I'm not interested in diploids.
B: Oh, how I wish your parents had felt the same
way!
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
diploid \dip"loid\ (d[i^]p"loid), a. [Gr. diplo`os twofold +
-oid.] (Biol.)
having a number of chromosomes corresponding to two copies of
each chromosome; having double the basic number of
chromosomes, as seen in a haploid cell. Contrasted to
{haploid} and {polyploid}.
Note: in diploid cells, although the number of chromosomes is
double that in haploid cells, it is not always true
that there are two copies of every chromosome, since
the two sex chromosomes in males will differ from each
other. In females, and for other chromosomes, however,
there are generally two copies of each, giving rise to
the classical hereditary and sorting patterns of
Mendelian genetics.
[PJC]