hybrid

hybrid (hī`brĭd), term applied by plant and animal breeders to the offspring of a cross between two different subspecies or species, and by geneticists to the offspring of parents differing in any genetic characteristic (see genetics). The mule, the hybrid steer, and hybrid corn are examples of hybrids produced by breeders, but some animal species may cross-breed in the wild, as the gray wolf and coyote sometimes do. Hybridization between cultivars or varieties is often used in agriculture to obtain greater vigor or growth (heterosis). Hybrid vigor is achieved by crossing two inbred strains (see breeding). The first generation shows greatly increased vigor and a better yield primarily because many genes for recessive, often deleterious, traits from one parent are masked by corresponding dominant genes in the other parent.

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hybrid

Offspring of parents that differ in genetically determined traits (see genetics). The parents may be of two different species, genera, or (rarely) families. The terms “mongrel” and “crossbreed” refer usually to animals or plants resulting from a cross between two races, breeds, strains, or varieties of the same species. Because of basic biological incompatibilities, sterile hybrids (those that cannot produce living young) such as the mule (a hybrid between a jackass and a mare) commonly result from crosses between species. Some species hybrids, however, are fertile and can be sources for the formation of new species. Many economically or aesthetically important cultivated plants (e.g., bananas, coffee, peanuts, dahlias, roses, bread wheats, alfalfa, etc.) originated through natural or artificially induced hybridization. Hybridization is important biologically because it increases necessary genetic variation within a species.

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(1) Refers to a myriad of products that combine two or more different technologies. The term more often than not refers to hardware, rather than software. See hybrid circuit, hybrid computer, hybrid file, hybrid drive and hybrid microcircuit.

(2) Also known as a termination or term set, it is a device that adapts a two-wire telephone line from a home or business into a four-wire trunk at the telco central office. A hybrid also exists within the telephone set, converting the two wire line into the four wires required by the handset (two for the speaker; two for the microphone). See echo cancellation.

(3) See Hybrid SACD.

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Hybrid - A concurrent object-oriented language. ["Active Objects in Hybrid", O.M. Nierstrasz, SIGPLAN Notices 22(12):243-253 (OOPSLA '87) (Dec 1987)].