SPONTANEOUS GENERATION • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Spontaneous generation

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/spɑntˈeɪniəs dʒˌɛnərˈeɪʃən/ Listen

Spontaneous generation

noun

A hypothetical organic phenomenon by which living organisms are created from nonliving matter. Synonyms: abiogenesis, autogenesis, autogeny.

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Etymology of 'Spontaneous generation'

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"Spontaneous generation" Quotes from Famous Books

... antiquity, held its ground down to the middle of the seventeenth century. Notwithstanding the frequent citation of the phrase, wrongfully attributed to Harvey, 'Omne vivum ex ovo,' that great physiologist believed in spontaneous generation as firmly as Aristotle did. And it was only in the latter part of the seventeenth century, that Redi, by simple and well-devised experiments, demonstrated that, in a great number of cases of supposed spontaneous generation, the animals which made their ...

— The Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century • T.H. (Thomas Henry) Huxley

... [Greek: autogenes]), spontaneous generation, self-produced. Haeckel distinguished autogeny and plasmogeny, applying the former term when the formative fluid in which the first living matter was supposed to arise was inorganic and the latter when it was organic, i.e. contained the requisite fundamental ...

— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 - "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" • Various

Words linked to "Spontaneous generation" : abiogenesis, autogenesis, autogeny, organic phenomenon