Recombination
name, noun
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Combination a second or subsequent time.
- 2 (genetics) a combining of genes or characters different from what they were in the parents wordnet
- 3 The formation of genetic combinations in offspring that are not present in the parents.
- 4 (physics) a combining of charges or transfer of electrons in a gas that results in the neutralization of ions; important for ions arising from the passage of high-energy particles wordnet
- 5 The reverse of dissociation.
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The process by which the plasma of electrons and protons produced after the Big Bang condensed into hydrogen, or the epoch in which this process occurred.
Proper Noun
- 1 The epoch of recombination of the Universe, where atomic matter formed from free particles, combining protons with electrons. One of the Ages of the Universe. The cosmic era when neutral hydrogen formed out of the cosmic soup of protons and electrons in plasma, that condensed out of the energy of the Big Bang. This era produces the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).
Etymology
Etymology 1
From re- + combination.
Etymology 2
From recombination. The name is slightly inaccurate and is given for historical reasons: in fact the electrons and atomic nuclei were combining for the first time.
Related phrases
More for "recombination"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.