acquired characteristic

noun

a characteristic of an organism that results from increased use or disuse of an organ or the effects of the environment and cannot be inherited See also Lamarckism

Words nearby acquired characteristic

acquire, acquired, acquired antibody, acquired behaviour, acquired character, acquired characteristic, acquired drive, acquired epileptic aphasia, acquired fanconi's syndrome, acquired hyperlipoproteinemia, acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Scientific definitions for acquired characteristic

acquired characteristic
[ ə-kwīrd′ ]

A nonhereditary change of function or structure in a plant or animal made in response to the environment. Acquired characteristics include bodily changes brought about by disease or by repeated use or disuse of a body part (as in the building or atrophy of muscle tissue). The heritability of acquired characteristics was advocated by certain biological theorists like Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and rejected by Charles Darwin in his formulation of the theory of evolution.