a theory, widely held in the 19th century and earlier but now discredited, stating that living organisms could arise directly and rapidly from nonliving material
Also called (formerly): abiogenesis
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
sponta′neous genera′tion, [Biol.]
- Developmental Biologyabiogenesis.
- 1650–60
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'spontaneous generation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):