Preformation

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Preformation \Pre`for*ma"tion\, n. (Biol.)
     An old theory of the pre["e]xistence of germs. Cf.
     {Embo[^i]tement}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



  preformation
       n : 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 [syn: {theory of preformation}]