of or designating inheritance that depends on more than one gene
2. Also : multifactor
involving or including a number of elements or factors
multifactorial in American English
(ˌmʌltifækˈtɔriəl, -ˈtour-, ˌmʌltai-)
adjective
having or stemming from a number of different causes or influences
Some medical researchers regard cancer as a multifactorial disease
Derived forms
multifactorially
adverb
Word origin
[1915–20; multi- + factor + -ial]This word is first recorded in the period 1915–20. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: camouflage, collage, decoder, stockpile, supernationalismmulti- is a combining form meaning “many,” “much,” “multiple,” “many times,” “more thanone,” “more than two,” “composed of many like parts,” “in many respects,” used inthe formation of compound words. Other words that use the affix multi- include: multifilament, multilingual, multinational, multivalent, multiwall
Examples of 'multifactorial' in a sentence
multifactorial
Emphasis is clearly on multifactorial traits and a genome-view of the organism.
The Scientist (2000)
Less obvious was a shift in focus from the abnormal to normal variation, and from single genes to multifactorial traits.
The Scientist (2000)
Youth violence is multifactorial, and this makes it difficult to isolate the impact of violent films.