- abiogeny
- Abiogenesis Ab`i*o*gen"e*sis, n. [Gr. 'a priv. + bi`os life +
ge`nesis, origin, birth.] (Biol.)
The supposed origination of living organisms from lifeless
matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living
parents; spontaneous generation; -- called also {abiogeny},
and opposed to {biogenesis}.
[1913 Webster]
I shall call the . . . doctrine that living matter may be produced by not living matter, the hypothesis of abiogenesis. --Huxley, 1870. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.