noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈdɑːwɪnɪz(ə)m/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈdɑɹwənˌɪzəm/
rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)wɪnɪzəm
CMU ARPABET:D AA1 R W IH0 N IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Qualifier: evolutionary theory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory.
Short for neo-Darwinism (“the synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection with the modern genetic understanding of heredity”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, uncountable
Qualifier: evolutionary theory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory.
Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word.
Any of various theories in biology which apply aspects of Darwin's theory (noun sense 1) such as adaptation, competition, or gradual evolution; also, belief in such a theory.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, uncountable
Qualifier: evolutionary theory
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory.
Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word.
Any of various theories, now generally discredited, which apply aspects of Darwin's theory (noun sense 1) to other situations such as the development of ideas, organizations, or social groups.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, uncountable
Qualifier: evolutionary theory
Topics: pseudoscience
Examples
social Darwinism
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Charles Darwin's theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection (set out chiefly in his works On the Origin of Species, 1859; and The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1871); also, belief in this theory.
Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word.
A process of gradual evolution; also, ruthless competition for achievement or survival.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable
Qualifier: evolutionary theory; generally; generally
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Erasmus Darwin's poetic style, or theory of natural philosophy suggesting that living organisms developed from simpler lifeforms (set out in his work Zoonomia, 1794–1796).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, historical, poetic, uncountable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Darwinianism
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
Alternative letter-case form of Darwinism.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
a theory of organic evolution claiming that new species arise and are perpetuated by natural selection
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: theory of evolution, theory of organic evolution, evolutionism
Narrower terms: neo-Darwinism
History
Etymology
From Darwin + -ism (suffix forming names of schools of thought, systems, or theories), from the surname of the English natural philosopher, physician, and poet Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), and his grandson the biologist, geologist, and naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). The word was apparently first applied in noun sense 1 (“Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection”) by the English anthropologist and biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895) in 1860: see the quotation.
Across languages
Translations
48 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
داروينية
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Armenian:
դարվինիզմ
(darvinizm)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Bulgarian:
дарвинизъм
(darvinizǎm)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Catalan:
darwinisme
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Chinese Cantonese:
達爾文主義 /达尔文主义
(daat6 ji5 man4 zyu2 ji3)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Chinese Mandarin:
達爾文主義 /达尔文主义
(Dá'ěrwén zhǔyì)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Czech:
darwinismus
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Danish:
darwinisme
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Dutch:
darwinisme
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Esperanto:
darvinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Finnish:
darwinismi
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
French:
darwinisme
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Galician:
darwinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Georgian:
დარვინიზმი
(darvinizmi)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
German:
Darwinismus
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Hungarian:
darwinizmus
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Ido:
Darwinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Interlingua:
darwinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Italian:
darvinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Italian:
darwinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Japanese:
ダーウィニズム
(dāwinizumu)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Kazakh:
дарвинизм
(darvinizm)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Korean:
다윈주의
(dawinjuui)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Korean:
다위니즘
(dawinijeum)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Macedonian:
дарвини́зам
(darvinízam)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Norwegian Bokmål:
darwinisme
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Norwegian Nynorsk:
darwinisme
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Persian:
داروینیسم
(dârvinism)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Polish:
darwinizm
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Portuguese:
darvinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Portuguese:
darwinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Romanian:
darvinism
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Russian:
дарвини́зм
(darvinízm)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Serbo-Croatian:
дарвинѝзам
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Serbo-Croatian:
darvinìzam
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Slovak:
darvinizmus
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Spanish:
darvinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Spanish:
darwinismo
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Swedish:
darwinism
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Turkish:
Darvinizm
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Turkish:
Darvincilik
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Ukrainian:
дарвіні́зм
(darvinízm)
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Vietnamese:
học thuyết Darwin
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Vietnamese:
học thuyết Đác-uyn
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Vietnamese:
học thuyết Đacuyn
— Charles Darwin’s theory regarding the evolution of living organisms through natural selection; belief in this theory
Finnish:
darwinismi
— any of various theories in biology which apply aspects of Darwin’s theory; belief in such a theory; any of various discredited theories which apply aspects of Darwin’s theory to other situations
Finnish:
darwinismi
— ruthless competition for achievement or survival
Finnish:
darwinismi
— Erasmus Darwin’s poetic style, or theory of natural philosophy
