uniformitarianism

uniformitarianism

English

Etymology

From uniformitarian +‎ -ism, coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1837.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /juːnɪfɔːmɪˈtɛːɹɪənɪzm/

Noun

uniformitarianism (uncountable)

1. (chiefly geology) The scientific principle that natural processes operated in the past in the same way and at the same rates that they operate today. [from 19th c.]

   Antonym: catastrophism

   • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 20:

     There has been much puffy stuff written about whether Lyell's uniformitarianism permitted variations in intensity of causes, or whether he applied his logic in a consistent way, and whether he assumed indefinite stretches of geological time.

Translations

the scientific principle that natural processes operated in the past in the same way that they do today

Finnish: uniformitarianismi French: actualisme (fr) m, uniformitarisme m German: Aktualismus m Irish: aonfhoirmeachas m Italian: attualismo m Polish: aktualizm m