copy number (plural copy numbers)
- (genetics) The number of copies of a gene or plasmid within a cell's genome.
1985, John H. Dodds, Plant Genetic Engineering[1], →ISBN, page 170:"Reconstruction" or "titration" experiments consisting of amounts of the linear cloned cDNA equivalent to various gene copy numbers in the genomic DNA are run on the same gel.
- (library science) The identification number assigned to a specific copy of a work.
1987, Terry D. Webb, The In-House Option: Professional Issues of Library Automation[2], →ISBN, pages 65–66:In other words, there was no way to correlate a book's barcode number, by which it was filed in the computer, to its copy number on the shelf list.