animalculism en · NOUN
Etymology
Compare French animalculisme. By surface analysis, animalcule + -ism.
Meanings
- (archaic, uncountable) A theory seeking to explain certain physiological and pathological phenomena in terms of animalcules.
- (archaic, uncountable) The theory that the spermatozoon and not the ovum contains the whole of the embryo; spermism.
Antonyms
Translations (2)
fr animalculisme (theory that the spermatozoon contains the whole of the embryo) · pt animalculismo (theory that the spermatozoon contains the whole of the embryo)