evolutionary

[ev-uh-loo-shuh-ner-ee, ee-vuh-]

adjective

1. pertaining to evolution or development; developmental.

   the evolutionary origin of species.

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

3. pertaining to or performing evolutions.

Other Word Forms

• evolutionarily adverb
• antievolutionary adjective
• nonevolutionary adjective
• preevolutionary adjective
• proevolutionary adjective
• unevolutionary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of evolutionary¹

First recorded in 1840–50; evolution + -ary

Example Sentences

He has tended to accept the premises of evolutionary psychology in ways that religious people typically do not.

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Faced with this evidence, Muotri and his team began to question how modern humans managed to thrive despite such toxic conditions during their evolutionary past.

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This unusual lack of denticles led scientists to question what became of them -- and whether the teeth on the tenaculum might represent their evolutionary remnants.

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The fossil reveals a remarkable evolutionary feature: a structure that likely helped the insect attach securely to rocks.

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By refining global biostratigraphic frameworks and calibrating species' evolutionary timelines, INA researchers transform fossils of coccolithophores into precise tools for reconstructing ancient oceans, linking modern plankton ecology with the geological record of climate change.

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Related Words

• developmental www.thesaurus.com
• metamorphic 
• transformative