Standard Lemma guide

microevolution

noun · 2 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

Small-scale changes in the history of life, such as changes in allele frequencies in a population (over a few generations); also known as change at or below the species level.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: evolution

2

noun

Meaning 2

evolution resulting from small specific genetic changes that can lead to a new subspecies

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: evolution, organic evolution, phylogeny, phylogenesis

History

Etymology

From micro- + evolution, coined by Robert Greenleaf Leavitt in 1909.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اَلتَّطَوُّر الصَّغِير (at-taṭawwur aṣ-ṣaḡīr) — small-scale changes in the history of life
  • Catalan: microevolució — small-scale changes in the history of life
  • German: Mikroevolution — small-scale changes in the history of life
  • Serbo-Croatian: mikroevolúcija — small-scale changes in the history of life