evolutionaladj.
/ˌiːvəˈl(j)uːʃn̩(ə)l/, /ˌiːvəˈl(j)uːʃən(ə)l/, /ˌɛvəˈl(j)uːʃn̩(ə)l/, /ˌɛvəˈl(j)uːʃən(ə)l/, U.S. /ˌɛvəˈluʃ(ə)nəl/ Of or relating to evolution (in various senses); evolutionary.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [adjective]
developing1808
evolutionary1810
evolutive1823
evolutional1862
derivative1871
historical1875
evolutionistic1885
transformistic1887
pre-evolutionary1889
1862 F. Hall tr. N. N. Gore Rational Refut. Hindu Philos. Syst. 181 (note) The Upanishads..describe Brahma..as unchangeable; and this notion would be contravened by that of his being an evolutional material cause.
1874 J. Morley On Compromise 160 The evolutional theory of society.
1906 Science 29 June 986/1 References to his [sc. Erasmus Darwin's] evolutional ideas seldom occur in his correspondence.
1940 Eng. Jrnl. 29 524 Recent critics have been..conditioned by the historical sense, by the feeling that literary art, like evolutional biology, must be continually developing new forms if it is to progress.
2003 D. Callahan What Price Better Health? iii. 79 Among the earlier theories that have been rejected or called into question are notions of..the evolutional necessity of unalterable programmed death.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1862