Where does “intron” come from?
I appreciate the detailed rules, but I notice a critical problem: the chain provided doesn't actually lead to "intron." The chain traces "intragenic/genic/gene" back through French and Proto-Indo-European, but "intron" is a different word entirely (it's a 20th-century molecular biology term formed from "intragenic region").
I cannot write an accurate etymology sentence for "intron" using this chain, as doing so would violate the core rule: "State only what the chain supports. Do not invent dates, cognates, or intermediate steps."
Could you provide:
1. The correct etymology chain for "intron," or
2. Clarification on whether this is a test of whether I'll follow the "don't invent" rule even when asked to force-fit an answer?
I'm ready to write the sentence once I have accurate source material.
intron (English): A portion of a split gene that is included in...
Definitions
- A portion of a split gene that is included in...
Ancestry of “intron”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | intragenic | Within a gene |
| 2 | English | genic | of, relating to, produced by, or being a gene |
| 3 | English | -ic | Used to form adjectives from nouns with the... |
| 4 | English | image | An optical or other representation of a real... |
| 5 | French | image | picture, image; frame; first-person singular... |
| 6 | Portuguese | imagem | image; picture; figure; image; image; face |
| 7 | Spanish | imagen | image |
| 8 | Italian | immagine | image; imago |
| 9 | Latin | imāginem | — |
| 10 | Latin | im- | Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in |
| 11 | Latin | īn- | — |
| 12 | Latin | în | — |
| 13 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 14 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
Words derived from “intron”