evolutionary
Americanadjective
-
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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of evolutionary
Explanation
Evolutionary things have to do with how animals (or other things) change over time — this process of change is called evolution. Scientists that study living things are interested in evolutionary changes in form or behavior. It's not always easy to put the evolutionary pieces together, and scientists often have to rely on fossils to tell the whole story of evolution. Usually, evolutionary changes happen because they help the organism survive and reproduce. Many evolutionary questions are non-physical: How did the domestication of dogs change the behavior of canines from an evolutionary standpoint? When you see the word evolutionary, think "change."
Vocabulary lists containing evolutionary
Evolutionary BIology - Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity - Middle School
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Evolutionary BIology - Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity - High School
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Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After accounting for the unusual evolutionary history of the aculeate Hymenoptera, the researchers found that haplodiploid insects outside that group developed eusociality at rates similar to those seen in diploid insects.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
Afterward, bacteria and archaea began moving along separate evolutionary paths.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
"With dogs, the story is totally different. They followed a very different evolutionary path, yet through domestication, they developed the social abilities needed to understand and cooperate with us."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
The presence of Silescelida acristata in the Middle Triassic of Brazil shows that the evolutionary history of archosauriforms was broader and more complex than previously thought.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The band is the political, economic, and social organization that we inherited from our millions of years of evolutionary history.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
