Darwinism

== English == === Etymology === From Darwin +‎ -ism (suffix forming names of schools of thought, systems, or theories), from the surname of the English natural philosopher, physician, and poet Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), and his grandson the biologist, geologist, and naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). The word was apparently first applied in noun sense 1 (“Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection”) by the English anthropologist and biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) in 1860: see the quotation. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɑːwɪnɪz(ə)m/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɑɹwənˌɪzəm/ Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)wɪnɪzəm Hyphenation: Dar‧win‧i‧sm === Noun === Darwinism (countable and uncountable, plural Darwinisms) (evolutionary theory, uncountable) Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory. Synonym: Darwinianism (uncountable) Short for neo-Darwinism (“the synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection with the modern genetic understanding of heredity”). (by extension) Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word. (biology, uncountable) Any of various theories in biology which apply aspects of Darwin's theory (sense 1) such as adaptation, competition, or gradual evolution; also, belief in such a theory. (pseudoscience, uncountable) Any of various theories, now generally discredited, which apply aspects of Darwin's theory (sense 1) to other situations such as the development of ideas, organizations, or social groups. (generally, countable, uncountable) A process of gradual evolution; also, ruthless competition for achievement or survival. (biology, poetic, historical) Erasmus Darwin's poetic style, or theory of natural philosophy suggesting that living organisms developed from simpler lifeforms (set out in his work Zoonomia, 1794–1796). Synonym: Darwinianism (poetry, rare) ==== Derived terms ==== neo-Darwinism social Darwinism ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== natural selection survival of the fittest === Notes === === References === === Further reading === Darwinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia neo-Darwinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia social Darwinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia