Darwinian

Darwinian

See also: darwinian

English

WOTD – 12 February 2021

Etymology

A photographic portrait of Charles Darwin taken in 1868 by Julia Margaret Cameron.

A 1792 portrait of Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin’s grandfather, by Joseph Wright of Derby.

From Darwin +‎ -ian (suffix with the sense ‘belonging to, relating to, or like’ forming adjectives or nouns). Darwin is the surname of Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802) and his grandson Charles Darwin (1809–1882).[1]

Adjective sense 2 (“of or pertaining to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia”) and noun sense 2 (“native or resident of Darwin”) refer to the city of Darwin which was named after Charles Darwin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɑːˈwɪ.ni.ən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɑɹˈwɪ.ni.ən/
• Rhymes: -ɪniən
• Hyphenation: Dar‧win‧i‧an

Adjective

Darwinian (comparative more Darwinian, superlative most Darwinian)

1. Senses relating to Charles and Erasmus Darwin.
   1. Of or pertaining to the scientific views advanced by the English biologist, geologist, and naturalist Charles Darwin, especially his theory that living organisms evolve through the natural selection of inherited variations that increase organisms' ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.

      Synonyms: Darwinic, (chiefly humorous, archaic, rare) Darwinical, Darwinist, Darwinistic, (somewhat derogatory) Darwinite

   2. (by extension) Of or pertaining to Darwinism, which includes the theories of Charles Darwin and other scientists.

      Synonyms: Darwinist, Darwinistic

      • 1904 July 9 and 16​, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “The Eccentric Seclusion of the Old Lady”, in The Club of Queer Trades, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, published April 1905, OCLC 10768944, page 241:

        The Darwinian movement has made no difference to mankind, except that, instead of talking unphilosophically about philosophy, they now talk unscientifically about science.

   3. (by extension) Competitive, especially in a ruthless manner.

      Synonym: dog eat dog

   4. (by extension) Exhibiting an ability to adapt or develop in order to survive; adaptable.

      Synonyms: agile, flexible

      Antonyms: inadaptable, inflexible, rigid, unadaptable

   5. (chiefly historical) Of or pertaining to the philosophical and scientific views, or poetic style, of the natural philosopher, physiologist, and poet Erasmus Darwin.

      Synonym: (obsolete, rare) Darwinic

2. Of or pertaining to Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia.

Alternative forms

• darwinian
• Darwinean

Derived terms

• Darwinian curvature
• Darwinianism
• Darwinianly
• neo-Darwinian

Related terms

• Darwinical (chiefly humorous, archaic, rare)
• Darwinically
• Darwinic (obsolete, rare)
• Darwinism
• Darwinist (adjective, noun)
• Darwinistic
• Darwinistically
• Darwinite (adjective, noun)
• Darwinize
• Darwinized (adjective)
• Darwinizing (adjective, noun)

 

Translations

of or pertaining to the scientific views advanced by Charles Darwin, especially his theory that living organisms evolve through natural selection

Arabic: دَارْوِينِيّ‎ (dārwīniyy) Asturian: darvinianu, darvinista Catalan: darwinià Czech: darwinovský, darwinský Dutch: darwiniaans French: darwinien (fr) Galician: darwinista Italian: darwiniano (it), darwinista (it) Polish: darwinistyczny (pl), darwinowski Portuguese: darwiniano, darwinista Russian: дарвиновский (ru) (darvinovskij) Slovak: darvinovský Spanish: darwiniano, darwinista

of or pertaining to Darwinism, which includes the theories of Charles Darwin and other scientists

competitive, especially in a ruthless manner — see competitive

exhibiting an ability to adapt or develop in order to survive — see adaptable

of or relating to the philosophical and scientific views, or poetic style, of Erasmus Darwin

of or pertaining to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Spanish: darwiniano

See also

• survival of the fittest

Noun

Darwinian (plural Darwinians)

1. Senses relating to Charles and Erasmus Darwin.
   1. An adherent of Charles Darwin's theory of the origin of species, or of Darwinism.

      Synonyms: Darwinist, (somewhat derogatory) Darwinite

   2. (obsolete, rare) An adherent of the philosophical and scientific views, or poetic style, of Erasmus Darwin.
2. A native or resident of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia.

Alternative forms

• darwinian

Translations

adherent of Charles Darwin’s theory of the origin of species, or of Darwinism

Catalan: darwinista (ca) m or f Czech: darwinista m Dutch: darwiniaan m Galician: darwinista m or f Hungarian: darwinista (hu) Italian: darwinista (it) m or f Polish: darwinista (pl) m, darwinistka (pl) f Portuguese: darwinista m or f Romanian: darwinist (ro) m Russian: дарвини́ст (ru) m (darviníst) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: дарвѝнист m Roman: darvìnist (sh) m Spanish: darwiniano m, darwiniana f, darwinista m or f

native or resident of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Spanish: darwiniano m, darwiniana f

References

1. “Darwinian, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2012; “Darwinian, adj. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• Darwinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Darwin, Northern Territory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia