WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
ev•o•lu•tion•ar•y
(ev′ə lo̅o̅′shə ner′ē or, esp. Brit., ē′və-),USA pronunciation adj.
ev′o•lu′tion•ar′i•ly, adv.
- Biologypertaining to evolution or development;
developmental:the evolutionary origin of species. - Biologyof, pertaining to, or in accordance with a theory of evolution, esp. in biology.
- pertaining to or performing evolutions.
- evolution + -ary 1840–50
'evolutionary' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Pleistocene
- Spencer
- Vico
- ally
- analogous
- biomorph
- catastrophism
- cladogenesis
- converge
- convergence
- creodont
- dendrogram
- divergence
- evolutionary algorithm
- evolutionary biology
- evolutive
- genealogy
- gerontomorphosis
- gradualism
- homologous
- intergradation
- macroevolution
- microevolution
- morphogenesis
- neencephalon
- numerical taxonomy
- onychophoran
- paleencephalon
- phenetics
- phenogram
- phyletic
- phylogenetic classification
- phylogeny
- physical anthropology
- primitive
- recapitulate
- recapitulation
- sexual selection
- sociobiology
- speciation
- subhuman
- systematics
- tychism
- vestige