Lamarckism
|La-marck-ism|
🇺🇸
/ləˈmɑrkɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/ləˈmɑːkɪzəm/
inheritance of acquired traits
Etymology
'Lamarckism' originates from the name 'Jean-Baptiste Lamarck', a French naturalist who proposed the theory in the early 19th century.
'Lamarckism' was derived from the name 'Lamarck' and the suffix '-ism', indicating a theory or belief system.
Initially, it meant the belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a theory of biological evolution developed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, which suggests that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring.
Lamarckism was an early theory of evolution before Darwin's theory of natural selection.
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Last updated: 2025/05/18 01:37