palingenesis Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun emergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species
    recapitulation.

WordNet


Pal`in*gen"e*sis, Pal`in*gen"e*sy noun (Also<
  • Palingenesis
  • Palingenesy
)
Etymology
Gr. again + birth: cf. F. palingénésie. See Genesis.
Definitions
  1. A new birth; a re-creation; a regeneration; a continued existence in different manner or form.
  2. (Biol.) That form of evolution in which the truly ancestral characters conserved by heredity are reproduced in development; original simple descent; -- distinguished from kenogenesis. Sometimes, in zoölogy, the abrupt metamorphosis of insects, crustaceans, etc.

Webster 1913