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neo-Darwinism
[ nee-oh-dahr-wi-niz-uhm ]
/ ˌni oʊˈdɑr wɪˌnɪz əm /
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noun Biology.
the theory of evolution as expounded by later students of Charles Darwin, especially Weismann, holding that natural selection accounts for evolution and denying the inheritance of acquired characters.
any modern theory of evolution holding that species evolve by natural selection acting on genetic variation.
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Origin of neo-Darwinism
First recorded in 1900–05
OTHER WORDS FROM neo-Darwinism
ne·o-Dar·win·i·an, adjective, nounne·o-Dar·win·ist, nounWords nearby neo-Darwinism
neo-Confucianist, neoconservatism, neocortex, neocyanine, neo-dada, neo-Darwinism, neodymium, neoencephalon, neo-expressionism, neofascism, neoformation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use neo-Darwinism in a sentence
We would emphasise that it is not Darwinism we are attacking, but that which is erroneously called Neo-Darwinism.
The Making of Species|Douglas DewarNeo-Darwinism is a pathological growth on Darwinism, which, we fear, can be removed only by a surgical operation.
The Making of Species|Douglas DewarThis affords a striking instance of the pernicious influence which Neo-Darwinism is exercising on the minds of men to-day.
The Making of Species|Douglas DewarI had as yet no idea that a writer could attack Neo-Darwinism without attacking evolution.
Unconscious Memory|Samuel Butler
British Dictionary definitions for neo-Darwinism
Neo-Darwinism
/ (ˌniːəʊˈdɑːwɪnˌɪzəm) /
noun
the modern version of the Darwinian theory of evolution, which incorporates the principles of genetics to explain how inheritable variations can arise by mutation
Derived forms of Neo-Darwinism
Neo-Darwinian, adjective, nounCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for neo-Darwinism
Neo-Darwinism
[ nē′ō-där′wə-nĭz′əm ]
Darwinism as modified by the findings of modern genetics, stating that mutations due to random copying errors in DNA cause variation within a population of individual organisms and that natural selection acts upon these variations.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.