From the Greek word meaning ‘double’, a cell or organism having two sets or copies (or homologs) of each somatic chromosome, usually one from the mother and one from the father, and thus twice the haploid number. Nearly all animal cells are diploid, except for the gametes, and some are polypoid (three or more copies of each chromosome, often found in plants). The diploid number in the human genome is 46, which is twice the haploid number of 23 chromosomes contained in human ova and sperm.
See Chromosome, Down’s syndrome, Gametes, Genetic (or DNA) recombination, Haploid, Meiosis (or reduction division), Oocytes, Trisomy 21