Epigeneses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A developmental process involving the gradual transformation of an organism from a simple to a more complex form through successive stages
2. A biological phenomenon where an organism develops or differentiates through a series of changes rather than from a pre-existing structure
3. The series of events and interactions that lead to the generation of new structures and functions in an organism throughout its life cycle

Etymology: "Epigeneses" is the plural of "epigenesis," so it is the form of the noun for several such processes or cases. The noun itself is built from Greek elements: "epi" meaning "upon" or "after," and "genesis," meaning "origin" or "generation," from "gignesthai," to come into being. Put together, the term describes something arising on top of, or subsequent to, what came before. The sense that matters most in biology grew out of an old debate about how organisms take shape. Early theories of preformation held that a miniature adult was already contained in the egg or sperm and merely expanded. Epigenesis was the rival view, that form arises gradually from an undifferentiated beginning. Using the term for the whole series of later developmental interactions, as the definition here does, extends that original contrast across an organism's entire life.

Synonyms: development, growth, formation