'Preformation' definitions:
Definition of 'preformation'
From: WordNet
noun
A theory (popular in the 18th century and now discredited) that an individual develops by simple enlargement of a tiny fully formed organism (a homunculus) that exists in the germ cell [syn: preformation, theory of preformation]
Definition of 'Preformation'
From: GCIDE
- Preformation \Pre`for*ma"tion\, n. (Biol.) An old theory of the pre["e]xistence of germs. Cf. Embo[^i]tement. [1913 Webster]