spontaneous generation
noun
Simple meaning
A hypothetical organic phenomenon by which living organisms are created from nonliving matter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spahntayneeuhsjuhnerayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
spɑnˈteɪniəsdʒɛnɚˈeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
evolutionary theoryhistorical
A hypothetical organic phenomenon by which living organisms are created from nonliving matter
evolutionary theoryhistorical
The fancied production of live organisms without previously existing parents from inorganic matter, or from decomposing organic matter, a notion which at one time had many supporters.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A hypothetical organic phenomenon by which living organisms are created from nonliving matter
Used this way, spontaneous generation is an older-sounding word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in historical writing and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Dated
- Connotation
- Old-fashioned
- Usage feel
- Dated in modern speech
Where it naturally appears
- Historical writing
- Literature/storytelling
Usage note
This meaning still makes sense to most readers, but it sounds a generation behind current usage.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.