Definition of "translocation" [trans•lo•ca•tion]

• A change of location. (noun)
• Genetics A transfer of a chromosomal segment to a new position, especially on a nonhomologous chromosome. (noun)
• Genetics A chromosomal segment that is translocated. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This genetic event was termed a translocation—the flip-flop transposition of two pieces of chromosomes."
• "Present view of protein translocation across the ER membrane."
• "These forms of leukemia share a common molecular abnormality called a translocation in which a gene on chromosome 11 breaks and becomes joined with one of many genes on different chromosomes."