biogenesis
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Ancient Greek βῐ́ος (bíos, “life”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + γένεσις (génesis, “origin, source; manner of birth; creation”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis (“birth; production”)). The words biogenesis and abiogenesis were both coined by English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) in 1870 (see the quotation).[1]
The word biogenesis was first used by English physiologist and neurologist Henry Charlton Bastian (1837–1915) around 1869 to mean “life-origination or commencement” in an unpublished exchange of correspondence with Irish physicist John Tyndall. However, in an 1871 book,[2] Bastian announced he was adopting a new term, archebiosis, because of the confusion that might be caused by Huxley’s use of biogenesis with a different meaning.
Equivalent to bio- + genesis.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bʌɪə(ʊ)ˈdʒɛnəsɪs/, /baɪə-/, /baɪoʊ-/, /biːə-/, /biːoʊ-/, /-nɪ-/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌbaioʊˈd͡ʒɛnəsɪs/
Audio (UK): (file) - Hyphenation: bi‧o‧ge‧ne‧sis
Noun
[edit]biogenesis (usually uncountable, plural biogeneses)
- The principle that living organisms are produced only from other living organisms.
- 1870 September 17, [Thomas Henry Huxley], “The President’s Address”, in The Athenæum: Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music and the Drama, number 2238, London: Printed by Edward J. Francis, Took's Court, Chancery Lane, published at the office, 20, Wellington Street, Strand, W.C., by John Francis. [...], →OCLC, page 374, columns 2–3:
- And thus the hypothesis that living matter always arises by the agency of pre-existing living matter, took definite shape; […] It will be necessary for me to refer to this hypothesis so frequently, that, to save circumlocution, I shall call it the hypothesis of Biogenesis; and I shall term the contrary doctrine—that living matter may be produced by not living matter—the hypothesis of Abiogenesis.
- 2013 March–April, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell [letter]”, in American Scientist[2], volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 4 January 2017, page 83:
- It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.
- Biosynthesis.
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “principle that living organisms are produced only from other living organisms”): abiogenesis
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
|
References
[edit]- ^ Compare Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “biogenesis”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ H[enry] Charlton Bastian (1871) “Preface”, in The Modes of Origin of Lowest Organisms; including a Discussion of the Experiments of M. Pasteur, and a Reply to Some Statements by Professors Huxley and Tyndall[1], London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Company, →OCLC.
Further reading
[edit]biogenesis on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms prefixed with bio-
- English 5-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with quotations