natural selection

== English == === Etymology === Coined by British biologist Charles Darwin in 1859 in his work On the Origin of Species. === Pronunciation === === Noun === natural selection (uncountable) (evolutionary theory) A process by which heritable traits conferring survival and reproductive advantage to individuals, or related individuals, tend to be passed on to succeeding generations and become more frequent in a population, whereas other less favourable traits tend to become eliminated; the differential survival and reproduction of phenotypes. (colloquial, sometimes offensive) A process by which poor individual choices or attributes naturally, or rightfully, lead to poor outcomes, especially death. Hypernym: karma ==== Synonyms ==== survival of the fittest ==== Related terms ==== artificial selection sexual selection supernatural selection ==== Translations ==== === See also === law of the jungle Darwin Award