heterochromatin

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros)lbor. English hetero- English chromatin English heterochromatin From hetero- + chromatin.

1. Heterochromatic tightly coiled chromosome material; believed to be genetically inactive