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单词 spontaneous generation
释义

spontaneous generation

noun

: a now discredited notion that living organisms spontaneously originate directly from nonliving matter
A difficulty that we have forgotten lay in the widespread belief in spontaneous generation. Aristotle had written that flies, worms, and other small animals originated spontaneously from putrefying matter. Daniel J. Boorstin

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Others were the product of imperfect observation, such as Lamarck’s theory that acquired characteristics could be inherited or the theory of spontaneous generation. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2020 In fact, cells that generate their own cilia without centrioles or deuterosomes already have a name: de novo, basically meaning spontaneous generation. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 30 Dec. 2019 By the late 19th century, writes Encyclopedia Britannica, scientists had ceased to believe that, for instance, cheese could spontaneously generate mice, but spontaneous generation at the microbial level was still accepted. Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 13 June 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

spontaneous generation

noun

: a now discredited notion that living organisms spontaneously originate directly from nonliving matter
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更新时间:2024/11/11 1:48:42