DNA
Etymology
An abbreviation of "deoxyribonucleic acid," each part naming its chemistry: the sugar deoxyribose, the cell nucleus where it was found, and its acidity. Watson, Crick, Franklin, and Wilkins revealed its double-helix structure in 1953.
noun · /dee-en-AY/
The double-helix molecule that stores the genetic instructions for building and running every living thing.
What it names
The physical medium of heredity — the chemical archive, copied into every cell, that makes ancestry tests, forensics, and genetic medicine possible.
Example
A single hair left at the scene held enough DNA to identify the suspect years later.
Related idea
DNA is the whole molecule and medium; a gene is a meaningful segment of it. Most of your DNA does not code for genes at all — the genes are specific passages within the far longer text.
noun · /dee-en-AY/
Figuratively, the fundamental, defining character of a person, group, or thing.
What it names
what something is essentially made of.
Example
Innovation is in the company’s DNA.
Related idea
Borrows biology’s idea of inherited, built-in instructions and applies it to identity.