Georges Louis Leclerc (ʒɔrʒ lwi ləklɛr), Comte de. 1707–88, French encyclopedist of natural history; principal author of Histoire naturelle (36 vols., 1749–89), containing the Époques de la nature (1777), which foreshadowed later theories of evolution
Buffon in American English
(byˈfɔ̃̃)
Comte de(born George Louis Leclerc) 1707-88; Fr. naturalist