[W/K] :: spontaneous generation

  Generation \Gen`er*a"tion\, n. [OE. generacioun, F.
     g['e]n['e]ration, fr.L. generatio.]
     1. The act of generating or begetting; procreation, as of
        animals.
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     2. Origination by some process, mathematical, chemical, or
        vital; production; formation; as, the generation of
        sounds, of gases, of curves, etc.
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     3. That which is generated or brought forth; progeny;
        offspiring.
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     4. A single step or stage in the succession of natural
        descent; a rank or remove in genealogy. Hence: The body of
        those who are of the same genealogical rank or remove from
        an ancestor; the mass of beings living at one period;
        also, the average lifetime of man, or the ordinary period
        of time at which one rank follows another, or father is
        succeeded by child, usually assumed to be one third of a
        century; an age.
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              This is the book of the generations of Adam. --Gen.
                                                    v. 1.
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              Ye shall remain there [in Babylon] many years, and
              for a long season, namely, seven generations.
                                                    --Baruch vi.
                                                    3.
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              All generations and ages of the Christian church.
                                                    --Hooker.
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     5. Race; kind; family; breed; stock.
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              Thy mother's of my generation; what's she, if I be a
              dog?                                  --Shak.
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     6. (Geom.) The formation or production of any geometrical
        magnitude, as a line, a surface, a solid, by the motion,
        in accordance with a mathematical law, of a point or a
        magnitude; as, the generation of a line or curve by the
        motion of a point, of a surface by a line, a sphere by a
        semicircle, etc.
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     7. (Biol.) The aggregate of the functions and phenomene which
        attend reproduction.
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     Note: There are four modes of generation in the animal
           kingdom: scissiparity or by fissiparous generation,
           gemmiparity or by budding, germiparity or by germs, and
           oviparity or by ova.
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     Alternate generation (Biol.), alternation of sexual with
        asexual generation, in which the products of one process
        differ from those of the other, -- a form of reproduction
        common both to animal and vegetable organisms. In the
        simplest form, the organism arising from sexual generation
        produces offspiring unlike itself, agamogenetically.
        These, however, in time acquire reproductive organs, and
        from their impregnated germs the original parent form is
        reproduced. In more complicated cases, the first series of
        organisms produced agamogenetically may give rise to
        others by a like process, and these in turn to still other
        generations. Ultimately, however, a generation is formed
        which develops sexual organs, and the original form is
        reproduced.
  
     Spontaneous generation (Biol.), the fancied production of
        living organisms without previously existing parents from
        inorganic matter, or from decomposing organic matter, a
        notion which at one time had many supporters; abiogenesis.
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  Spontaneous \Spon*ta"ne*ous\ (sp[o^]n*t[=a]"n[-e]*[u^]s), a. [L.
     spontaneus, fr. sponte of free will, voluntarily.]
     1. Proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or
        disposition, or from a native internal proneness,
        readiness, or tendency, without constraint; as, a
        spontaneous gift or proposition.
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     2. Proceeding from, or acting by, internal impulse, energy,
        or natural law, without external force; as, spontaneous
        motion; spontaneous growth.
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     3. Produced without being planted, or without human labor;
        as, a spontaneous growth of wood.
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     Spontaneous combustion, combustion produced in a substance
        by the evolution of heat through the chemical action of
        its own elements; as, the spontaneous combustion of waste
        matter saturated with oil.
  
     Spontaneous generation. (Biol.) See under Generation.
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     Syn: Voluntary; uncompelled; willing.
  
     Usage: Spontaneous, Voluntary. What is voluntary is the
            result of a volition, or act of choice; it therefore
            implies some degree of consideration, and may be the
            result of mere reason without excited feeling. What is
            spontaneous springs wholly from feeling, or a sudden
            impulse which admits of no reflection; as, a
            spontaneous burst of applause. Hence, the term is also
            applied to things inanimate when they are produced
            without the determinate purpose or care of man.
            "Abstinence which is but voluntary fasting, and . . .
            exercise which is but voluntary labor." --J. Seed.
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                  Spontaneous joys, where nature has its play,
                  The soul adopts, and owns their firstborn away.
                                                    --Goldsmith.
            [1913 Webster] -- Spon*ta"ne*ous*ly, adv. --
            Spon*ta"ne*ous*ness, n.
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  spontaneous generation
       n : a hypothetical organic phenomenon by which living organisms
           are created from nonliving matter [syn: abiogenesis, autogenesis,
            autogeny]