natural selection
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natural selection
Where it comes from
Coined by British biologist Charles Darwin in 1859 in his work On the Origin of Species.
noun
- A process by which heritable traits conferring survival and reproductive advantage to individuals, or related individuals, tend to be passed on to succeeding generations and become more frequent in a population, whereas other less favourable traits tend to become eliminated; the differential survival and reproduction of phenotypes. I believe that a careful consideration of the structure of a species, and of the peculiar physical and organic conditions by which it is surrounded, or has been surrounded in past ages, will often, as in this case, throw much light on the origin of its habits and instincts. These again, combined wit
- A process by which poor individual choices or attributes naturally, or rightfully, lead to poor outcomes, especially death. Lead singer “Hooch” tries hard to be offensive, telling the crowd he'd like to set some hippies and homeless people on fire, promoting drunk driving as “natural selection at work,’
Similar: survival of the fittest
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: survival of the fittest
Translations
Every language
noun natural selection
| Español | selección natural |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 자연선택 jayeonseontaek, 자연도태 jayeondotae |
| 日本語 | 自然選択, 自然淘汰 |
| 中文 | 自然選擇 /自然选择 zìrán xuǎnzé, 天擇 /天择 tiānzé |
| हिन्दी | प्राकृतिक वरण prākŕtik varaṇ |
| Português | seleção natural |
| Français | sélection naturelle |
| Deutsch | natürliche Selektion, natürliche Auslese, natürliche Zuchtwahl |
| Italiano | selezione naturale |
| Ελληνικά | φυσική επιλογή fysikí epilogí |
| Română | selecție naturală |
| Русский | есте́ственный отбо́р jestéstvennyj otbór |
| Tiếng Việt | chọn lọc tự nhiên |
| العربية | اِنْتِقَاءٌ طَبِيعِيّ intiqāʔun ṭabīʕiyy |
| עברית | ברירה טבעית |
Talk about this word "natural selection." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/natural%20selection. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. natural selection. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/natural%20selection "natural selection." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/natural%20selection.Cite this
@misc{natural_selection_2026,
title = {natural selection},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/natural%20selection},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
