Other forms: clones, cloning, cloned
To clone is to make an exact genetic copy of a living thing. Clone a sheep, cloned cells, a clone of the original.
Dolly the sheep in 1996 was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, and the technique is now routine in cattle and in research. Gardeners have cloned plants for centuries by taking cuttings. A clone is also a copy of a computer or a piece of software.
1verbcloneTo make an exact genetic copy of a living thing.
“Scientists hope to clone the rare frog to save it from dying out.”
clone is a copying.
Coined in botany in 1903 from Greek klon, a twig — because a cutting grows into the same plant.
Ancient Greek
κλών — twig
English, today
clone
Coined (in botany) in 1903, based on Ancient Greek κλών (“twig”). Figurative use from the 1970s.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA