evolutionary

[ev-uh-loo-shuh-ner-ee or, esp. British, ee-vuh-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR evolutionary ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to evolution or development; developmental: the evolutionary origin of species.

of, relating to, or in accordance with a theory of evolution, especially in biology.

pertaining to or performing evolutions.

Origin of evolutionary

First recorded in 1840–50; evolution + -ary

Related formsev·o·lu·tion·ar·i·ly, adverban·ti·ev·o·lu·tion·ar·y, adjectivenon·ev·o·lu·tion·ar·y, adjectivepre·ev·o·lu·tion·ar·y, adjectivepro·ev·o·lu·tion·ar·y, adjectiveun·ev·o·lu·tion·ar·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for evolutionary

Contemporary Examples of evolutionary

For his tireless assault on evolutionary biology and downsizing the deity to fit within science, I give Meyer second place.
2014: Revenge of the Creationists
Karl W. Giberson
December 27, 2014
To regain their relevancy, Democrats need to go back to their evolutionary roots.
Time to Bring Back the Truman Democrats
Joel Kotkin
December 21, 2014
It combines pickup techniques supposedly inspired by evolutionary psychology with self-help pseudoscience.
The Secret World of Pickup Artist Julien Blanc
Brandy Zadrozny
December 1, 2014
This change was relatively rapid in evolutionary terms, and a lot of diverse critters came out of it.
Why Did It Take So Long For Complex Life To Evolve On Earth? Blame Oxygen.
Matthew R. Francis
November 2, 2014
Anyone who takes pot shots at a lovely wading bird is a hopeless defective, in my view, an evolutionary mistake.
Can Carl Hiaasen Save Florida?
Malcolm Jones
September 19, 2014

Historical Examples of evolutionary

The latter was as evolutionary and as revolutionary as the Home Rule Bill.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
It had other, profounder consequences from the evolutionary point of view.
Socialism
John Spargo
Butler's thought was too moving, too vital, too evolutionary, for the sceptics of his time.
Evolution in Modern Thought
Ernst Haeckel
Darwin was the greatest of prophets in the most evolutionary of worlds.
The Education of Henry Adams
Henry Adams
The problem as Geoffroy and Cuvier understood it was not an evolutionary one.
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell