About
synthetic |sinˈθetik|
adjective
relating to or using synthesis.
• (of a substance) made by chemical synthesis, esp. to imitate a natural product : synthetic rubber.
• (of an emotion or action) not genuine; insincere : their tears are a bit synthetic.
See note at spurious .
• Logic (of a proposition) having truth or falsity determinable by recourse to experience. Compare with analytic.
• Linguistics (of a language) characterized by the use of inflections rather than word order to express grammatical structure. Contrasted withagglutinative and analytic.
noun (often synthetics)
a synthetic material or chemical, esp. a textile fiber.
DERIVATIVES
synthetical adjective
synthetically |-ik(ə)lē| adverb
ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from French synthétique or modern Latinsyntheticus, from Greek sunthetikos, based on suntithenai ‘place together.’
evolution |ˌevəˈloō sh ən|
noun
1 the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
The idea of organic evolution was proposed by some ancient Greek thinkers but was long rejected in Europe as contrary to the literal interpretation of the Bible. Lamarck proposed a theory that organisms became transformed by their efforts to respond to the demands of their environment, but he was unable to explain a mechanism for this. Lyell demonstrated that geological deposits were the cumulative product of slow processes over vast ages. This helped Darwin toward a theory of gradual evolution over a long period by the natural selection of those varieties of an organism slightly better adapted to the environment and hence more likely to produce descendants. Combined with the later discoveries of the cellular and molecular basis of genetics, Darwin’s theory of evolution has, with some modification, become the dominant unifying concept of modern biology.
2 the gradual development of something, esp. from a simple to a more complex form : the forms of written languages undergo constant evolution.
3 Chemistry the giving off of a gaseous product, or of heat.
4 a pattern of movements or maneuvers : silk ribbons waving in fanciful evolutions.
5 dated Mathematics the extraction of a root from a given quantity.
DERIVATIVES
evolutional |- sh ənl| adjective
evolutionally |-(ə)lē| adverb
evolutionarily |ˌevəˌloō sh əˈne(ə)rəlē| adverb
evolutionary |-ˌnerē| adjective
evolutive |-ˈloōtiv| adjective
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin evolutio(n-) ‘unrolling,’ from the verbevolvere (see evolve ). Early senses related to physical movement, first recorded in describing a tactical “wheeling” maneuver in the realignment of troops or ships. Current senses stem from a notion of “opening out” and “unfolding,” giving rise to a general sense of [development.]