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Lamarckian

[luh-mahr-kee-uh n]
adjective
  1. of or relating to Jean de Lamarck or his theory of organic evolution.
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noun
  1. a person who holds this theory.
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Origin of Lamarckian

First recorded in 1840–50; Lamarck + -ian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lamarckian

Historical Examples

  • Neither jaws nor brain can have been evolved on the Lamarckian principle.

    Evolution in Modern Thought

    Ernst Haeckel

  • Even a Lamarckian will allow this to be within the range of possibility.

  • He, being a Lamarckian, ascribes this to the inherited effects of use.

  • But even in the two Lamarckian factors there is a difference in grade.

    Evolution

    Joseph Le Conte

  • In this controversy, however, there was another string to the Lamarckian bow.

    Parallel Paths

    Thomas William Rolleston

British Dictionary definitions for lamarckian

Lamarckian

adjective
  1. of or relating to Lamarck
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noun
  1. a supporter of Lamarckism
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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

Word Origin and History for lamarckian

Lamarckian

adj.

1846, pertaining to French botanist and zoologist J.B.P. Lamarck (1744-1829), especially his view that the process of evolution includes the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper