noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Abnormal organic development. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the alternation of two or more different forms in the life cycle of a plant or animal wordnet
3. 3
   Abiogenesis. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   Spontaneous generation. countable, uncountable
5. 5
   The birth of a living being from a parent of a different kind; having two different forms in the life cycle. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

alternation of generationsalternation of generationsbirthdevelopmentgenerationgenesis

Antonyms

All antonyms

homogenesis

Etymology

From hetero- + -genesis.

Related phrases

life cycle

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.