• (n.) The hypothesis that all living things proceed from preexisting germs, and that these encase the germs of all future living things, inclosed one within another.
Em`boîte'ment` noun [ French, from emboîter to fit in, insert; en in + boîte box.] (Biol.) The hypothesis that all living things proceed from preëxisting germs, and that these encase the germs of all future living things, inclosed one within another. Buffon.
Type: Term Pronunciation: awm-bwaht-mawn[h] Synonyms: preformation theory