“Coffee, the favorite drink of the civilized world.” – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States
preformation, theory of preformation
(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
Source: WordNet® 3.1
preformation (countable and uncountable, plural preformations)
Prior formation.
(biology, historical) The theory that organisms are fully developed in the form of an egg or seed, and just increase in size (as opposed to epigenesis).
Source: Wiktionary
Pre`for*ma"tion, n. (Biol.)
Definition: An old theory of the preëxistence of germs. Cf. Emboîtement.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
6 January 2025
(adverb) (of childbirth) before the end of the normal period of gestation; “the child was born prematurely”
“Coffee, the favorite drink of the civilized world.” – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States