I. ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌjēn adjective
or poly·ge·net·ic | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷_jə̇|ned.ik
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary poly- + -gene; probably originally formed in German
geology : originating or developing in two or more ways or at two or more times (as a limestone partly clastic and partly biochemical or a volcano built up by a succession of eruptions)
II. noun
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary poly- + gene
: one of a group of nonallelic genes that collectively control the inheritance of a quantitative character or modify the expression of a qualitative character, that individually are of slight effect, and that prob. are not basically different from oligogenes, but produce their dissimilar effects through the interaction of all the components of the genome — compare multiple factor , quantitative inheritance