polygenesis

[pol-ee-jen-uh-sis]

noun Biology, Anthropology.

origin from more than one ancestral species or line.

Origin of polygenesis

First recorded in 1860–65; poly- + -genesis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for polygenesis

Contemporary Examples of polygenesis

Polygenesis amounted to a justification for Europeans believing themselves essentially different from the rest of the species.
Desperately Seeking a GOP Hero
Stanley Crouch
September 25, 2009

Historical Examples of polygenesis

Polygenesis in his inventions may probably be regarded as testimony in favour of the monogenesis of Man.
The Evolution of Culture
Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
Polygenesis, pol-i-jen′e-sis, n. origin from many separate germs: the theory that organisms sprang from different cells.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for polygenesis

polygenesis

noun

biology evolution of a polyphyletic organism or group
the hypothetical descent of the different races of man from different ultimate ancestors

Compare monogenesis

Derived Formspolygenetic (ˌpɒlɪdʒɪˈnɛtɪk), adjectivepolygenetically, adverb

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 polygenesis

"plurality of origins," 1858, from poly- + genesis. Related: Polygenetic (1851).