Polygenism

//pəˈlɪd͡ʒənɪzəm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The belief that humans descended from more than one ancestral pair. uncountable

    "2003: Such pigmental indelibility spelt polygenism for some: blacks formed a distinct species altogether, a separate creation. — Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Penguin 2004, p. 248)"

Example

More examples

"2003: Such pigmental indelibility spelt polygenism for some: blacks formed a distinct species altogether, a separate creation. — Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Penguin 2004, p. 248)"

Etymology

From poly- + genism?

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