morphogenesis

American  

[mawr-fuh-jen-uh-sis] / ˌmɔr fəˈdʒɛn ə sɪs /

noun

Embryology.

1. the development of structural features of an organism or part.

---

morphogenesis British  

/ ˌmɔːfəʊˈdʒɛnɪsɪs, ˌmɔːfəʊdʒɪˈnɛtɪk /

noun

1. the development of form and structure in an organism during its growth from embryo to adult

2. the evolutionary development of form in an organism or part of an organism

---

morphogenesis Scientific  

/ môr′fō-jĕn′ĭ-sĭs /

1. Formation of the structure of an organism or part involving differentiation and growth of tissues and organs during development.

---

Other Word Forms

• morphogenetic
  adjective
• morphogenic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of morphogenesis

First recorded in 1880–85; morpho- + genesis

Example Sentences

The paper, "Reprogrammable snapping morphogenesis in freestanding ribbon-cluster meta-units via stored elastic energy," was published on Oct.

From Science Daily • Oct. 11, 2025

Plant hormones are a group of unrelated chemical substances that affect plant morphogenesis.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The X-linked mental retardation protein oligophrenin-1 is required for dendritic spine morphogenesis.

From Nature • Oct. 31, 2017

One of Lal’s innovations has been figuring out how to take advantage of morphogenesis, the process by which many species of insects transform from wriggling larvae to spindly, multilegged adults.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2013

We must imagine the morphogenesis of deep structures, built into our minds, for coding out, like proteins, the parts of speech.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas