animalculism

English

Etymology

Compare French animalculisme. By surface analysis, animalcule +‎ -ism.

Noun

animalculism (uncountable)

1. (biology, archaic) A theory seeking to explain certain physiological and pathological phenomena in terms of animalcules.
2. (biology, archaic) The theory that the spermatozoon and not the ovum contains the whole of the embryo; spermatism.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “spermatozoon theory”): ovism

Translations

theory that the spermatozoon contains the whole of the embryo

• Portuguese: animalculismo m

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “animalculism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)