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Darwin

American  
[dahr-win] / ˈdɑr wɪn /

noun

  1. Charles (Robert), 1809–82, English naturalist and author.

  2. his grandfather Erasmus, 1731–1802, English naturalist and poet.

  3. a seaport in and the capital of Northern Territory, in N Australia.


Darwin 1 British  
/ ˈdɑːwɪn /

noun

  1. Former name (1869–1911): Palmerston.  a port in N Australia, capital of the Northern Territory: destroyed by a cyclone in 1974 but rebuilt on the same site. Pop: 71 347 (2001)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Darwin 2 British  
/ ˈdɑːwɪn /

noun

  1. Charles ( Robert ). 1809–82, English naturalist who formulated the theory of evolution by natural selection, expounded in On the Origin of Species (1859) and applied to man in The Descent of Man (1871)

  2. his grandfather, Erasmus. 1731–1802, English physician and poet; author of Zoonomia, or the Laws of Organic Life (1794–96), anticipating Lamarck's views on evolution

  3. Sir George Howard , son of Charles Darwin. 1845–1912, English astronomer and mathematician noted for his work on tidal friction

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Darwin Scientific  
/ därwĭn /
  1. British naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution based on natural selection (1858). Darwin's theory, that random variation of traits within an individual species can lead to the development of new species, revolutionized the study of biology.


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Example Sentences

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Geologist Samuel Pickworth Woodward, who was a professor at the college in the 1800s and a correspondent of Charles Darwin, collected many of the plants and flowers.

From BBC Jul. 20, 2026

In May, Darwin filed a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the state from imposing the new rules.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 9, 2026

Around 2,000 US Marines conduct exercises for six months of the year on the opposite coast of Australia in the northern city of Darwin.

From Barron's Jun. 16, 2026

Here’s a creation myth for the age of Darwin.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 11, 2026

Darwin was unsure how these variants were generated, another fact to which we will return in subsequent pages.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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