breeding
/ˈbɹiːdɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.08 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The good manners regarded as characteristic of the aristocracy and conferred by heredity.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "In analysing the ecological conditions of an animal population we have above all to focus our attention upon the most sensitive stages within the life cycle of the animal, that is, the period of breeding and larval development."
- "Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true."
- "She had her breeding at my father's charge."
- "Your dog has good breeding."
- "Honest gentlemen, I know not your breeding."
- "Your toothbrush is a breeding ground for bacteria."
Etymology
From Middle English breedyng, bredynge (“gestation, incubation, propagation, hatching; engineering, formation, development, growth”), equivalent to breed + -ing.