n. [ Gr. 'a priv. + bi`os life + ge`nesis, origin, birth. ] (Biol.) The supposed origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents; spontaneous generation; -- called also abiogeny, and opposed to biogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall call the . . . doctrine that living matter may be produced by not living matter, the hypothesis of abiogenesis. Huxley, 1870. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_; unmarried ('a priv. + &unr_; marriage) + &unr_; reproduction. ] (Biol.) Reproduction without the union of parents of distinct sexes: asexual reproduction. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_; birth. ] (Physiol.) Any imperfect development of the body, or any anomaly of organization. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'amfi` + &unr_; generation. ] (Biol.) Sexual generation; amphigony. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Amylum + genesis. ] The formation of starch. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. 1 the evolution or genesis of the human race.
Syn. -- anthropogeny. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ Auto- + genesis. ] (Biol.) Spontaneous generation. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Gr. bi`os life + &unr_;, &unr_;, birth. ] (Biol.) (a) A doctrine that the genesis or production of living organisms can take place only through the agency of living germs or parents; -- called also biogeny; -- opposed to abiogenesis. (b) Life development generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. the production of a chemical compound by a living organism.
Syn. -- biosynthesis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Gr. blasto`s sprout + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) Multiplication or increase by gemmation or budding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; new + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) The introduction during embryonic development of characters or structure not present in the earlier evolutionary history of the strain or species (as addition of the placenta in mammalian evolution); a modified evolution, in which nonprimitive characters make their appearance in consequence of a secondary adaptation of the embryo to the peculiar conditions of its environment; -- distinguished from palingenesis. [ Also spelled caenogenesis and formerly kenogenesis. ] [ WordNet 1.5 + 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. cho`ndros cartilage + genesis. ] (Physiol.) The development of cartilage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. ky`tos hollow vessel + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) Development of cells in animal and vegetable organisms. See Gemmation, Budding, Karyokinesis; also Cell development, under Cell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. di- + genesis. ] (Biol.) The faculty of multiplying in two ways; -- by ova fecundated by spermatic fluid, and asexually, as by buds. See Parthenogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Pref. dys- + genesis. ] (Biol.) A condition of not generating or breeding freely; infertility; a form of homogenesis in which the hybrids are sterile among themselves, but are fertile with members of either parent race. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Electro- + genesis. ] (Physiol.) Same as Electrogeny. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Endo- + genesis. ] (Biol.) Endogeny. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. epi- + genesis. ] (Biol.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) One who believes in, or advocates the theory of, epigenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. eu- + genesis. ] (Biol.) The quality or condition of having strong reproductive powers; generation with full fertility between different species or races, specif. between hybrids of the first generation. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ Gr. &unr_; marriage + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) The production of offspring by the union of parents of different sexes; sexual reproduction; -- the opposite of agamogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; race + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) Alternate generation. See under Generation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., from Gr. ge`nesis, fr. the root of gi`gnesqai to beget, be born; akin to L. genus birth, race. See Gender. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of producing, or giving birth or origin to anything; the process or mode of originating; production; formation; origination. [ 1913 Webster ]

The origin and genesis of poor Sterling's club. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The first book of the Old Testament; -- so called by the Greek translators, from its containing the history of the creation of the world and of the human race. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geom.) Same as Generation.

n. Glycogenesis. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Physiol.) The production or formation of sugar from gycogen, as in the liver. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Haemato- + genesis. ] (Physiol.) (a) The origin and development of blood. (b) The transformation of venous into arterial blood by respiration; hematosis. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Gr. e"i^s, masc., "e`n, neut., one + root of gi`gnesqai to be born. ] (Biol.) Same as Ontogeny. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hetero- + genesis. ] 1. (Biol.) Spontaneous generation, so called. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) That method of reproduction in which the successive generations differ from each other, the parent organism producing offspring different in habit and structure from itself, the original form, however, reappearing after one or more generations; -- opposed to homogenesis, or gamogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. "isto`s tissue + E. genesis.] (Biol.) (a) The formation and development of organic tissues; histogeny; -- the opposite of histolysis. (b) Germ history of cells, and of the tissues composed of cells. Haeckel. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Homo- + genesis. ] (Biol.) That method of reproduction in which the successive generations are alike, the offspring, either animal or plant, running through the same cycle of existence as the parent; gamogenesis; -- opposed to heterogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; new + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) Modified evolution, in which nonprimitive characters make their appearance in consequence of a secondary adaptation of the embryo to the peculiar conditions of its environment; -- distinguished from palingenesis. [ Written also cenogenesis and cænogenesis. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. kinhto`s movable + E. genesis. ] (Biol.) The doctrine or hypothesis that animal structures have been produced, directly or indirectly, by animal movements. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Leucocyte + genesis. ] (Physiol.) The formation of leucocytes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. meta- + genesis. ] 1. (Biol.) The change of form which one animal species undergoes in a series of successively produced individuals, extending from the one developed from the ovum to the final perfected individual. Hence, metagenesis involves the production of sexual individuals by nonsexual means, either directly or through intervening sexless generations. Opposed to monogenesis. See Alternate generation, under Generation. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Alternation of sexual and asexual or gemmiparous generations; -- in distinction from heterogamy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Mono- + genesis. ] 1. Oneness of origin; esp. (Biol.), development of all beings in the universe from a single cell; -- opposed to polygenesis. Called also monism. Dana. Haeckel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) That form of reproduction which requires but one parent, as in reproduction by fission or in the formation of buds, etc., which drop off and form new individuals; asexual reproduction. Haeckel. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Biol.) The direct development of an embryo, without metamorphosis, into an organism similar to the parent organism; -- opposed to metagenesis. E. van Beneden. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Biol.) The development of the tissues and organs of an organism; the formation of structural features of an organism. [ PJC ]

n. the causing of a mutation or the occurrence of a mutation{ 3 }. [ PJC ]

{ } n. [ See Ontology, and Genesis. ] (Biol.) The history of the individual development of an organism; the sequence of events involved in the development of an organism; the history of the evolution of the germ; the development of an individual organism, -- in distinction from phylogeny, or evolution of the tribe. Called also henogenesis, henogeny.
Syn. -- growth, growing, maturation, development. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. w, 'o`n an egg + E. genesis. ] (Physiol.) The development, or mode of origin, of the ova. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Organo- + genesis. ] 1. (Biol.) The origin and development of organs in animals and plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) The germ history of the organs and systems of organs, -- a branch of morphogeny. Haeckel. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Osteo- + genesis, or the root of Gr. gi`gnesqai to be born: cf. F. ostéogénie. ] (Physiol.) The formation or growth of bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. pai^s, paido`s, child + E. genesis. ] (Zool.) Reproduction by young or larval animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Gr. &unr_;; pa`lin again + &unr_; birth: cf. F. palingénésie. See Genesis. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A new birth; a re-creation; a regeneration; a continued existence in different manner or form. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: The passing over of the soul of one person or animal into the body of another person or animal, at the time of the death of the first; the transmigration of souls. Called also metempsychosis. [ PJC ]

3. (Biol.) That form of development of an individual organism in which in which ancestral characteristics occurring during its evolution are conserved by heredity and reproduced, sometimes transiently, in the course of individual development; original simple descent; -- distinguished from cenogenesis (kenogenesis or coenogenesis), in which the mode of individual development has been modified so that the evolutionary process had become obscured. Sometimes, in Zoology, the term is applied to the abrupt metamorphosis of insects, crustaceans, etc. See also the note under recapitulation. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ Pan- + genesis. ] (Biol.) An hypothesis advanced by Darwin in explanation of heredity. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The theory rests on the assumption, that the whole organization, in the sense of every separate atom or unit, reproduces itself, the cells throwing off minute granules called gemmules, which circulate freely throughout the system and multiply by subdivision. These gemmules collect in the reproductive organs and products, or in buds, so that the egg or bud contains gemmules from all parts of the parent or parents, which in development give rise to cells in the offspring similar to those from which they were given off in the parent. The hypothesis also assumes that these gemmules need not in all cases develop into cells, but may lie dormant, and be transmitted from generation to generation without producing a noticeable effect until a case of atavism occurs. This is an ingenious hypothesis, but now known to be wrong. Although now, a hundred years later, we know that all transmitted genetic information (other than that in plasmids) is contained in the genome of a single cell, scientists are still only beginning to understand the development process. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ Pref. para- + genesis. ] 1. (Min.) The science which treats of minerals with special reference to their origin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geol.) (a) The formation of minerals in contact, so as to affect one another's development. (b) The order in which minerals occurring together in rocks and veins have developed. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Gr. parqe`nos a virgin + E. genesis. ] 1. (Biol.) The production of new individuals from virgin females by means of ova which have the power of developing without the intervention of the male element; the production, without fertilization, of cells capable of germination. It is one of the phenomena of alternate generation. Cf. Heterogamy, and Metagenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) The production of seed without fertilization, believed to occur through the nonsexual formation of an embryo extraneous to the embryonic vesicle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) Pathogeny. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Biol.) A theory which explains inheritance by the transmission of the type of growth force possessed by one generation to another. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Gr. fy^lon race, tribe + E. genesis, or root of Gr. gi`gnesqai to be born. ] The history of genealogical development; the sequence of events involved in the evolutionary development of a species or taxonomic group of organisms; the historic exolution of the phylon or tribe, in distinction from ontogeny, or the development of the individual organism, and from biogenesis, or life development generally.
Syn. -- evolution. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Phyto- + genesis, or root of Gr. gi`gnesqai to be born. ] The doctrine of the generation of plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Poly- + genesis, or root of Gr. gi`gnesqai to be born. ] (Biol.) The theory that living organisms originate in cells or embryos of different kinds, instead of coming from a single cell; -- opposed to monogenesis. [ 1913 Webster ]