| inbreed | 1. To produce or generate within. "To inbreed and cherish . . . The seeds of virtue." (Milton) 2. To breed in and in. See Breed. Origin: Cf. Imbreed. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|---|
| inbreeding | The mating of two closely related persons. Also called consanguinity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| inbreeding, coefficient of | A statistical way of gauging how close two people are as to their genes. The coefficient of inbreeding (symbolised as f) is the probability that a person with two identical genes received both genes from an identical ancestor. Take, for example, first cousins. They share a set of grandparents. For any particular allele (gene) in the father, the chance that the mother inherited the same allele from the same source is 1/8. For any gene the father passes to his child, the chance is 1/8 that the mother has the same gene and 1/2 that she transmits that gene to the child so 1/8 x 1/2 = 1/16. Thus, a first-cousin marriage has a coefficient of inbreeding f =1/16. The added risks to the offspring of first cousins depend not only upon this coefficient of inbreeding but also upon the genetic family history and, in some cases, upon test results (as to beta thalassaemia, for instance, for first cousins of italian descent). There are always added risks from the mating of closely related persons. (12 Dec 1998) |
| inca | An emperor or monarch of Peru before, or at the time of, the Spanish conquest; any member of this royal dynasty, reputed to have been descendants of the sun. The people governed by the Incas, now represented by the Quichua tribe. <zoology> Inca dove, a small dove (Scardafella inca), native of Arizona, Lower California, and Mexico. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incameration | The act or process of uniting lands, rights, or revenues, to the ecclesiastical chamber, i. E, to the pope's domain. Origin: Pref. In- in + L. Camera chamber, LL, also, jurisdiction: cf. F. Incameration, It. Incamerazione. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incandescent | White, glowing, or luminous, with intense heat; as, incandescent carbon or platinum; hence, clear; shining; brilliant. "Holy Scripture become resplendent; or, as one might say, incandescent throughout." (I. <physics> Taylor) Incandescent lamp or light, a kind of lamp in which the light is produced by a thin filament of conducting material, usually carbon, contained in a vacuum, and heated to incandescence by an electric current, as in the Edison lamp; called also incandescence lamp, and glowlamp. Origin: L. Incandecens, -entis, p. Pr. Of incandescere to become warm or hot; pref. In- in + candescere to become of a glittering whiteness, to become red hot, incho. Fr. Candere to be of a glittering whiteness: cf. F. Incandescent. See Candle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incanous | <botany> Hoary with white pubescence. Origin: L. Incanus; pref. In- in + canus hoary. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incapable | 1. Wanting in ability or qualification for the purpose or end in view; not large enough to contain or hold; deficient in physical strength, mental or moral power, etc.; not capable; as, incapable of holding a certain quantity of liquid; incapable of endurance, of comprehension, of perseverance, of reform, etc. 2. Not capable of being brought to do or perform, because morally strong or well disposed; used with reference to some evil; as, incapable of wrong, dishonesty, or falsehood. 3. Not in a state to receive; not receptive; not susceptible; not able to admit; as, incapable of pain, or pleasure; incapable of stain or injury. 4. Unqualified or disqualified, in a legal sense; as, a man under thirty-five years of age is incapable of holding the office of president of the United States; a person convicted on impeachment is thereby made incapable of holding an office of profit or honor under the government. 5. As a term of disgrace, sometimes annexed to a sentence when an officer has been cashiered and rendered incapable of serving his country. Incapable is often used elliptically. "Is not your father grown incapable of reasonable affairs?" (Shak) Synonym: Incompetent, unfit, unable, insufficient, inadequate, deficient, disqualified. See Incompetent. Origin: Pref. In- not + capable: cf. F. Incapable, L. Incapabilis incomprehensible. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incapacity | Origin: Cf. F. Incapacite. 1. Want of capacity; lack of physical or intellectual power; inability. 2. Want of legal ability or competency to do, give, transmit, or receive something; inability; disqualification; as, the inacapacity of minors to make binding contracts, etc. Synonym: Inability, incapability, incompetency, unfitness, disqualification, disability. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incapsulate | <physiology> To inclose completely, as in a membrane. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incapsulation | <physiology> The process of becoming, or the state or condition of being, incapsulated; as, incapsulation of the ovum in the uterus. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incarcerate | 1. To imprison; to confine in a jail or priso. 2. To confine; to shut up or inclose; to hem in. <medicine> Incarcerated hernia, hernia in which the constriction can not be easily reduced. Origin: Pref. In- in + L. Carceratus, p. P. Of carcerare to imprison, fr. Carcer prison. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| incarcerated | Confined; imprisoned; trapped. Origin: L. In, in, + carcero, pp. -atus, to imprison, fr. Carcer, prison (05 Mar 2000) |
| incarcerated hernia | <surgery> A hernia which results in the entrapment of tissue or viscera into the hernia sac. (13 Nov 1997) |
| incarcerated placenta | Incomplete separation of the placenta and its failure to be expelled at the usual time after delivery of the child. Synonym: incarcerated placenta. (05 Mar 2000) |