The quality or state of having two different forms of a gene (one from each parent), which affects how traits show up in an organism.
From hetero- (Greek 'different') + zygous (from zygote, Greek 'yoked together') + -ness (English suffix for quality). The term emerged in genetics in the early 1900s to describe organisms that inherit different versions of genes from each parent.
Heterozygousness is why you might have your mom's eye color but your dad's curly hair—you're literally a genetic mashup! This mixing of genetic instructions is actually a superpower for survival because it gives organisms more genetic variety.
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