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preformationism

Meaning of "preformationism" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

PRONUNCIATION OF PREFORMATIONISM

ˌpriːfɔːˈmeɪʃənɪzəm


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF PREFORMATIONISM

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Preformationism is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES PREFORMATIONISM MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Preformationism

In the history of biology, preformationism is a formerly-popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves. Instead of assembly from parts, preformationists believed that the form of living things exist, in real terms, prior to their development. It suggests that all organisms were created at the same time, and that succeeding generations grow from homunculi, or animalcules, that have existed since the beginning of creation. Epigenesis, then, in this context, is the denial of preformationism: the idea that, in some sense, the form of living things comes into existence. As opposed to "strict" preformationism, it is the notion that "each embryo or organism is gradually produced from an undifferentiated mass by a series of steps and stages during which new parts are added." This word is still used, on the other hand, in a more modern sense, to refer to those aspects of the generation of form during ontogeny that are not strictly genetic, or, in other words, epigenetic.

Definition of preformationism in the English dictionary

The definition of preformationism in the dictionary is the belief in the theory of preformation.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH PREFORMATIONISM

abolitionism · abstentionism · adoptianism · annihilationism · connectionism · constructionism · contortionism · conversationism · dissolutionism · evolutionism · interventionism · obstructionism · Pan-Asianism · progressionism · protectionism · reactionism · Rosicrucianism · secessionism · suggestionism · tolerationism

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE PREFORMATIONISM

prefixed · prefixion · prefixture · preflame · preflight · prefloration · prefocus · prefoliation · preform · preformat · preformation · preformationist · preformative · preformulate · prefreeze · prefreshman · prefrontal · prefrontal leucotomy · prefulgent · prefund

WORDS THAT END LIKE PREFORMATIONISM

abstract expressionism · anachronism · antagonism · creationism · exhibitionism · expansionism · expressionism · hedonism · impressionism · interactionism · isolationism · mechanism · monism · Mormonism · Parkinsonism · perfectionism · Platonism · reductionism · trade unionism · unionism · Zionism

Synonyms and antonyms of preformationism in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «preformationism» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF PREFORMATIONISM

Find out the translation of preformationism to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of preformationism from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «preformationism» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

preformationism
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

preformacionismo
570 millions of speakers
en

English

preformationism
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

preformationism
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

preformationism
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

preformationism
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

preformacionismo
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

preformationism
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

préformationnisme
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Preformationism
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

Präformationstheorie
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

preformationism
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

preformationism
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Preformationism
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

preformationism
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

preformationism
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

Preformationism
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

preformationism
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

preformismo
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

preformationism
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

preformationism
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

performationism
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

preformationism
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

preformationism
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

preformationism
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

preformationism
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of preformationism

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «PREFORMATIONISM»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of preformationism
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «preformationism».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about preformationism

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «PREFORMATIONISM»

Discover the use of preformationism in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to preformationism and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Thinking about Life: The history and philosophy of biology ...
Preformationism also made it difficult to find mechanistic explanations for a number of common observations, which again were ascribed (perforce) to divine action. For example: ○ Gross developmental abnormalities ○ Regeneration of lost ...
Paul S. Agutter, Denys N. Wheatley, 2008
2
Foundations of Biophilosophy
Developmental biology has been both inspired and plagued by two apparently antithetic theoretical frameworks of a partly philosophical and partly scientific nature: preformationism and epigeneticism. The basic idea of preformationism is that ...
Martin Mahner, Mario Bunge, 1997
3
The Creative Matrix of the Origins: Dynamisms, Forces and ...
Since Leibniz was probably aware of Leeuwenhoek's argument for preformationism before he himself accepted preformationism and before he developed his theory of concomitance, it would not be careless to hypothesize an influence of the ...
Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, 2002
4
Preformationism
In the history of biology, preformationism (or preformism) is either the specific contention that all organisms were created at the same time, and that succeeding generations grow from homunculi, animalcules, or other fully formed but ...
Jesse Russell, Ronald Cohn, 2012
5
The Ovary of Eve: Egg and Sperm and Preformation
Foreword contrast to its dichotomous partner, epigenesis! Clara Pinto-Correia's remarkable book, for all its marvelous idiosyncrasies, may be the first historical treatise devoted exclusively to preformationism as a worthy subject in its own right, ...
Clara Pinto-Correia, 2007
6
Lifespan Development: Infancy Through Adulthood
The idea that intelligence and other characteristics are innate or inborn, not acquired or learned, called nativism, has a long history (Spelke & Newport, 1998) . Preformationism In the seventeenth century, biologists and others took the concept ...
Marc H. Bornstein, Deborah Lowe Vandell, Karen S. Rook, 2010
7
Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook
When von Baer began his research, preformationism was part of the accepted view of development. In essence, preformationism claims that developmental transformations (such as those observed in the embryo) are illusory because the  ...
Margaret Harris, George Butterworth, 2012
8
The German Invention of Race
The important point here is that Blumenbach's argument against preformationism does not work against Kant's account of Keime as he proposed it in 1775, and as he repeated it with some modifications in his subsequent essays on race in ...
Sara Eigen, Sara Eigen Mark Joseph Larrimore, 2012
9
Development: Infancy Through Adolescence
Development Is Driven by Nature The idea that intelligence and other characteristics are innate or inborn, not acquired or learned, called nativism, has a long history (Spelke & Newport, 1998). Preformationism In the seventeenth century, ...
Laurence Steinberg, Deborah Vandell, Marc Bornstein, 2010
10
The Depth of the Human Person: A Multidisciplinary Approach
The philosophical roots of epigenesis go back to Aristotle, and the most direct philosophical roots of preformationism are Cartesian.23 Indeed, by the eighteenth century it seemed that a commitment to metaphysical materialism required ...
Michael Welker, 2014

5 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «PREFORMATIONISM»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term preformationism is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Why 18th Century Biologists Made Copulating Frogs Wear Tiny Pants
He would go on to perform a successful artificial insemination of a dog, and his research would help debunk the theory of preformationism, ... «io9, Mar 14»
2
The Evolution of Evolutionary Language
(Preformationism had lost its credibility; hence Spencer could give “evolution” a radical new meaning.) Here is Spencer in First Principles:. «Patheos, Oct 13»
3
Haeckel Again: This Time with Plants
In the 1830s, he had published four generalizations from his observations of animal embryos to argue against (1) preformationism, the idea that ... «Discovery Institute, Oct 12»
4
The Violinist's Thumb
One, preformationism, grew out of the medieval alchemists' quest to create a homunculus, a miniature, even microscopic, human being. «NPR, May 12»
5
Epigenetics And Transhumanism: Bruce Lipton's Teleology
An irony for Dr. Lipton is that Lamarck's preformationism would in fact take the amino reins even further from his grasp. At conception the human ... «Science 2.0, Nov 10»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Preformationism [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/preformationism>. May 2024 ».
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