Darwinism

darwinism English 2026 February 12 Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1868.png A 1868 1 photograph of Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron. Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797) - Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802) - OP528 - Wolverhampton Art Gallery.jpg An 18th-century portrait of Erasmus Darwin by Joseph Wright of Derby.n n1 From the collection of the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom. The word Darwinism is derived from the surnames of both men, who were grandson and grandfather. Etymology From en Darwin -ism suffix forming names of schools of thought, systems, or theories, from the surname of the English natural philosopher, physician, and poet Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), and his grandson the biologist, geologist, and naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882).n 5671221295 March 2024 1; n The word was apparently first applied in en Darwin's theory (“Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection”) by the English anthropologist and biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) in 1860: see the quotation. Pronunciation en /ˈdɑːwɪnɪz(ə)m/ RP en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Darwinism.wav Southern England en /ˈdɑɹwənˌɪzəm/ GA en ɑː(ɹ)wɪnɪzəm 4 en Dar win i sm Noun ~ en Darwin's theoryen evolutionary theory uncountable Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory. en Darwinianism en 1 April 1860 [Thomas Henry Huxley] Art. VIII.—Darwin on the Origin of Species. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection; or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. By Charles Darwin, M.A. London. 1860 book review. The Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review London Savill and Edwards,printers, Chandos Street, Covent Garden. XVII II (volume LXXIII, number CXLIV, overall) 569 https://archive.org/details/sim_westminster-review_1860-04-01_73_144/page/569/mode/1up 1367803660 [W]e do not hesitate to assert that it Darwin's theory is as superior to any preceding or contemporary hypothesis, in the extent of observational and experimental basis on which it rests, in its rigorously scientific method, and in its power of explaining biological phenomena, as was the hypothesis of Nicolaus Copernicus to the speculations of Ptolemy. But the planetary orbits turned out to be not quite circular after all, and grand as was the service Copernicus rendered to science, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton had to come after him. What if the orbit of Darwinism should be a little to circular? en uncountable en neo-Darwinism the synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection with the modern genetic understanding of heredity. en by extension Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word. en biology uncountable Any of various theories in biology which apply aspects of Darwin's theory (en Darwin's theory) such as adaptation, competition, or gradual evolution; also, belief in such a theory. en pseudoscience uncountable Any of various theories, now generally discredited, which apply aspects of Darwin's theory (en Darwin's theory) to other situations such as the development of ideas, organizations, or social groups. en social Darwinism en generally countable uncountable A process of gradual evolution; also, ruthless competition for achievement or survival. en biology poetic historical Erasmus Darwin's poetic style, or theory of natural philosophy suggesting that living organisms developed from simpler lifeforms (set out in his work Zoonomia, 1794–1796). en Darwinianism<qq:poetry, rare> en 1840 January–April Article IV. The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. London: Moxon. 1839 book review. The British and Foreign Review; or, European Quarterly Journal London Richard and John Edward Taylor,Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. X XIX 105 https://archive.org/details/britishandforei122unkngoog/page/105/mode/1up 4567843 The blank verse of Queen Mab differs little from that measure as it appears in the poems of Akenside, who exercised considerable influence over such poets as escaped from the popular vortex of Darwinism. Derived terms en neo-Darwinism social Darwinism ultra-Darwinism Related terms en Darwin Darwinian Darwinianism Darwinist Darwinistic Darwinistically Translations Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory Arabic: ar داروينية f Armenian: hy դարվինիզմ Bulgarian: bg дарвинизъм m Catalan: ca darwinisme m Chinese: Cantonese: yue 達爾文主義 daat6 ji5 man4 zyu2 ji3 Mandarin: cmn 達爾文主義 Czech: cs darwinismus m Danish: da darwinisme c Dutch: nl darwinisme n Esperanto: eo darvinismo Finnish: fi darwinismi French: fr darwinisme m Galician: gl darwinismo m Georgian: ka დარვინიზმი German: de Darwinismus m Greek: el δαρβινισμός m Hungarian: hu darwinizmus Ido: io Darwinismo Interlingua: ia darwinismo Italian: it darvinismo m, it darwinismo m Japanese: ja ダーウィニズム dāwinizumu Kazakh: kk дарвинизм Korean: ko 다윈주의, ko 다위니즘 Macedonian: mk дарвини́зам m Norwegian: Bokmål: nb darwinisme m Nynorsk: nn darwinisme m Persian: fa داروینیسم dârvinism Polish: pl darwinizm m Portuguese: pt darvinismo m, pt darwinismo m Romanian: ro darvinism n Russian: ru дарвини́зм m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: sh дарвинѝзам m Latin: sh darvinìzam m Slovak: sk darvinizmus m Spanish: es darvinismo m, es darwinismo m Swedish: sv darwinism c Turkish: tr Darvinizm, tr Darvincilik Ukrainian: uk дарвіні́зм m Vietnamese: vi học thuyết Darwin, vi học thuyết Đác-uyn, vi học thuyết Đacuyn short for neo-Darwinism neo-Darwinism any of various theories in biology which apply aspects of Darwin’s theory; belief in such a theory; any of various discredited theories which apply aspects of Darwin’s theory to other situations Finnish: fi darwinismi French: fr process of gradual evolution evolution ruthless competition for achievement or survival Finnish: fi darwinismi French: fr Erasmus Darwin’s poetic style, or theory of natural philosophy Finnish: fi darwinismi French: fr See also en natural selection en survival of the fittest Notes n References Further reading neo-Darwinism social Darwinism en eponyms en Evolutionary theory