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(In general) the proposition that all living organisms have undergone a process of alteration and diversification from simple primordial forms during the earth's history; (in particular) a scientific theory proposing a mechanism for this process, now especially that based on Darwin's theory of the natural selection of genetically inherited and adaptive variation.
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), philosopher, social theorist, and sociologist.