Shibire

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A gene found in Drosophila, its homolog of the dynamin gene. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
shi

Etymology

From Japanese しびれ (shibire, “numbness, paralyzed”). Coined by Japanese-Canadian geneticist and zoologist David Suzuki, its discoverer. Originally discovered in its temperature sensitive form, shibire(ts), which caused the afflicted flies to drop from the sky on a temperature change, appearing to be a gene causing paralysis. Suzuki, referencing his Japanese heritage, chose a Japanese term for being paralyzed as the gene's name.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.