dominantly

Dominantly is an adverb formed from the adjective dominant. It is used to describe the manner or degree of dominance, indicating that a factor, influence, or trait exerts a prevailing or controlling role relative to others. In broad usage it often signals that something is widespread or decisively influential within a given context.

Etymology: The word descends from Latin dominans, the present participle of dominare "to rule," from dominus "master." It entered English via early modern usage to convey the sense of ruling or prevailing influence.

Usage: In scientific writing, dominantly is used with phrases like dominantly inherited or dominantly expressed, especially in genetics to indicate that a single copy of an allele is sufficient to produce the phenotype. In general prose, dominantly is less common than synonyms such as predominantly or primarily, which cover similar ideas without the strict contrast with non-dominance.

Examples: The disorder is dominantly inherited, with one mutant allele sufficient to appear in affected individuals. The trait is dominantly expressed in heterozygotes. Note that in genetics, terms like recessively or co-dominantly may be more precise depending on the mode of inheritance.

See also: dominant, dominance, predominance, recessive, co-dominant.