1. the exercise of influence or control over others. Compare submission. See also animal dominance.

2. an older term for the tendency for one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex to exert greater influence than the other over certain key functions, such as speech production or manual tasks. Also called hemispheric dominance; lateral dominance. See hemispheric lateralization.

3. in genetics, the ability of one allele to determine the phenotype of a heterozygous individual. See dominant allele. —dominant adj.