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natural selection

nat·u·ral se·lec·tion
N n

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [nach-er-uh l, nach-ruh l si-lek-shuh n]
    • /ˈnætʃ ər əl, ˈnætʃ rəl sɪˈlɛk ʃən/
    • /ˈnætʃrəl sɪˈlekʃn/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [nach-er-uh l, nach-ruh l si-lek-shuh n]
    • /ˈnætʃ ər əl, ˈnætʃ rəl sɪˈlɛk ʃən/

Definitions of natural selection words

  • noun natural selection the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations. 1
  • noun natural selection Darwinist theory: survival of the fittest 1
  • uncountable noun natural selection Natural selection is a process by which species of animals and plants that are best adapted to their environment survive and reproduce, while those that are less well adapted die out. 0
  • noun natural selection a process resulting in the survival of those individuals from a population of animals or plants that are best adapted to the prevailing environmental conditions. The survivors tend to produce more offspring than those less well adapted, so that the characteristics of the population change over time, thus accounting for the process of evolution 0
  • noun natural selection in evolution, the process by which those individuals (of a species) with characters that help them to become adapted to their specific environment tend to leave more progeny and transmit their characters, while those less able to become adapted tend to leave fewer progeny or die out, so that in the course of generations there is a progressive tendency in the species to a greater degree of adaptation 0
See all 5 definitions of natural selection

Information block about the term

Origin of natural selection

First appearance:

before 1855
One of the 30% newest English words
First recorded in 1855-60

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Natural selection

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Natural selection

natural selection popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 29% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.
According to our data about 65% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

natural selection usage trend in Literature

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Synonyms for natural selection

noun natural selection

  • adaptation — An adaptation of a book or play is a film or a television programme that is based on it.
  • social darwinism — a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.
  • survival of the fittest — (not in technical use) natural selection.
  • darwinism — the theory of the origin of animal and plant species by evolution through a process of natural selection
  • artificial selection — a process in the breeding of animals and in the cultivation of plants by which the breeder chooses to perpetuate only those forms having certain desirable inheritable characteristics.
All 9 Synonyms of natural selection

See also

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