Phrase guide

kin selection

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An evolutionary strategy that favors an individual organism's close kin over itself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined by John Maynard Smith in 1964 in a Nature paper titled "Group Selection and Kin Selection".

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: sukulaisvalinta — Translations
  • French: sélection de parentèle — Translations
  • Polish: dobór krewniaczy — Translations