dna
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The fundamental nature or values of a person, or an organization or other thing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
deeuhnaySay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdiɛˈneɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
informalloosely
The part of a living thing that carries genetic information.
figuratively
The fundamental nature or values of a person, or an organization or other thing, especially when considered as innate and/or immutable.
verb
transitive
To examine a sample of (someone's) deoxyribonucleic acid.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (informal, loosely) The part of a living thing that carries genetic information.
Used this way, dna is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Nucleic / long
Defense
Place
Other combinations
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Stretches of DNA that do not code for genes.
Sequence of a eukaryotic gene's DNA that is not translated into a protein.
A small cellular inclusion consisting of a ring of DNA that is not in a chromosome but is capable of autonomous replication.
Genetically engineered DNA made by recombining fragments of DNA from different organisms.
The technology of preparing recombinant DNA in vitro by cutting up DNA molecules and splicing together fragments from more than one organism.
Sequence of a gene's DNA that transcribes into protein structures.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: part of a living thing that carries genetic information
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “dna” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.