the theory, now discredited, that living organisms can originate in nonliving matter independently of other living matter
spontaneous generation
spontaneous generationWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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spontaneous generation
noun
See abiogenesis.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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The supposed development of living organisms from nonliving matter, as maggots from rotting meat. The theory of spontaneous generation for larger organisms was easily shown to be false, but the theory was not fully discredited until the mid-19th century with the demonstration of the existence and reproduction of microorganisms, most notably by Louis Pasteur. Also called abiogenesis
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Noun
(plural spontaneous generations)
- (biology) the fancied production of living organisms without previously existing parents from inorganic matter, or from decomposing organic matter, a notion which at one time had many supporters; abiogenesis
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"Spontaneous generation." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/spontaneous-generation.
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Spontaneous generation. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/spontaneous-generation
spontaneous generation - Medical Definition
n.
See abiogenesis
The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine © 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Spontaneous generation." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/spontaneous-generation.
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Spontaneous generation. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/spontaneous-generation
