animalculism

== English == === Etymology === Compare French animalculisme. By surface analysis, animalcule +‎ -ism. === Noun === animalculism (uncountable) (biology, archaic) A theory seeking to explain certain physiological and pathological phenomena in terms of animalcules. (biology, archaic) The theory that the spermatozoon and not the ovum contains the whole of the embryo; spermism. ==== Antonyms ==== (antonym(s) of “spermatozoon theory”): ovism ==== Translations ==== === References === “animalculism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.