Pangenesis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A hypothesis proposing that every cell in an organism produces tiny particles containing hereditary information that circulate through the body and accumulate in reproductive organs
2. A now-discredited biological theory claiming that all cells throughout the body contribute small hereditary particles that combine to form offspring
3. An outdated explanation of inheritance suggesting that hereditary material originates from particles shed by every tissue and cell in the organism

Etymology: Pangenesis is a transparent scientific compound. "Pan-" comes from the Ancient Greek "pas," meaning "all," in its combining form "pan-," and "genesis" comes from the Ancient Greek "genesis," meaning origin or coming into being. The combination was made in modern scientific writing, not in classical Greek, so the Greeks used the two parts separately but never together in this sense. The two halves reached English by different routes. "Genesis" passed through Latin, where it kept the same form, and entered English largely unchanged. "Pan-" is an English prefix taken from Greek, and English scientists have long used it to join a classical root to a new idea, so the result reads as "all-origin" and describes a theory in which the whole body contributes to reproduction.

Synonyms: heredity