Noun: preformation
- A theory (popular in the 18th century and now discredited) that an individual develops by simple enlargement of a tiny fully formed organism (a homunculus) that exists in the germ cell
"Preformation was eventually replaced by more accurate theories of embryonic development"; "theory of preformation was eventually replaced by more accurate theories of embryonic development";
- theory of preformation
Derived forms: preformations
Type of: theory
Encyclopedia: Preformation