preformation Meaning, Definition & Usage
-
noun a theory (popular in the 18th century and now discredited) that an individual develops by simple enlargement of a tiny fully formed organism (a homunculus) that exists in the germ cell
theory of preformation.
WordNet
Pre`for*ma"tion noun
Definitions
(Biol.) An old theory of the preëxistence of germs. Cf. Embo&icir;tement .