abiogenesis

Meaning

Noun

• The origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents.

Related

Similar words

• abiogeny
• biopoiesis
• origin of life

Opposite words

• biogenesis
• transformism

Origin

• From Ancient Greek ἀ- + βῐ́ος (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-) + γένεσις (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis); equivalent to a- + biogenesis. The words biogenesis and abiogenesis were both coined by English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) in 1870 (see the quotation).