Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun preformation

1 sense of preformation

Sense 1
preformation, theory of 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)
       => theory -- (a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory")