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Definition of Epigenesis

1. Noun. A geological change in the mineral content of rock after the rock has formed.

Definition of Epigenesis

1. n. The theory of generation which holds that the germ is created entirely new, not merely expanded, by the procreative power of the parents. It is opposed to the theory of evolution, also to syngenesis.

Definition of Epigenesis

1. Noun. (biology) The theory that an organism develops by differentiation from an unstructured egg rather than by simple enlarging of something preformed. ¹

2. Noun. (geology) changes in the mineral content of rock after its formation ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Epigenesis

1. [n -GENESES]

Medical Definition of Epigenesis

1. The theory that development is a process of gradual increase in complexity as opposed to the preformationist view that supposed that mere increase in size was sufficient to produce adult from embryo. (07 May 1998)

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Epigenesis

Literary usage of Epigenesis

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Heredity and Environment in the Development of Men by Edwin Grant Conklin (1922)
"epigenesis.—As opposed to, this doctrine of preformation, which was founded largely on speculation, arose the theory of epigenesis, which was in its main ..."

2. Chemical and Geological Essays by Thomas Sterry Hunt (1878)
"The difficulty in deciding whether we have to do with envelopment or with epigenesis increases when the enveloped mineral becomes so abundant as to obscure ..."

3. Human Physiology by Robley Dunglison (1846)
"epigenesis.—According to this system, which is the most ancient of all, the new "being is conceived to be built up of materials furnished by both sexes, ..."

4. Eugenio Rignano Upon the Inheritance of Acquired Characters: A Hypothesis of by Eugenio Rignano (1911)
"Phenomena Which Refute Simple epigenesis Roux designates, with the expression "self-differentiation" of a certain part of the organism, the process in which ..."

5. The Elementary Principles of General Biology by James Francis Abbott (1914)
"epigenesis. — Wolff, the father of modern embryology, investigated the developing chick in ... Generationis (1759) he advanced the hypothesis of epigenesis, ..."

6. On the Anatomy of Vertebrates by Richard Owen (1868)
"... that of ' epigenesis.' Hunter, who surpassed all his contemporaries in observations on the formation of the chick, ' thought he could see both ..."

7. The Evolution of Sex by Patrick Geddes (1890)
"epigenesis and Evolution.—History of the different views taken of the ... (a) Harvey's prevision of the ovum-theory, and emphasis upon "epigenesis. ..."

8. The Law of Heredity: A Study of the Cause of Variation, and the Origin of by William Keith Brooks (1883)
"... of evolution—Jager's hypothesis—Ultimate analysis shows that this is at bottom an evolution hypothesis—No hypothesis of epigenesis is satisfactory—No ..."

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