mutation

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mutation/mjuːˈteɪʃn/

▶noun

• 1 the action or process of changing in form or nature.

  ■ a change.

• 2 a change in the structure of a gene resulting in a variant form which may be transmitted to subsequent generations.

  ■ a distinct form resulting from genetic mutation.

• 3 Linguistics (in Celtic languages) change of an initial consonant in a word caused by the preceding word.

  ■ (in Germanic languages) the umlaut process.

– derivatives
mutational adjective,
mutationally adverb.

– origin ME: from L. mutatio(n-), from mutare ‘to change’.