mutation: Meaning and Definition of

mu•ta•tion

1. a sudden departure from the parent type in one or more heritable characteristics, caused by a change in a gene or a chromosome.
2. an individual, species, or the like, resulting from such a departure.
2. the act or process of changing.
3. a change or alteration, as in form or nature.
4. umlaut.
5. (in Celtic languages) syntactically determined morphophonemic phenomena that affect initial sounds of words.