exaptation

UK/ˌɛk.səpˈteɪ.ʃən/US/ˌɛk.sæpˈteɪ.ʃən/

exaptation noun: the use of a biological structure or function for a purpose other than that for which it initially evolved.

Noun

exaptation (countable and uncountable, plural exaptations)

(evolutionary theory) The use of a biological structure or function for a purpose other than that for which it initially evolved.
- Birds initially developed wings and feathers as a means of heat regulation. The use of wings for flight is an example of exaptation.
- I believe that Stephen Gould and Elizabeth Vrba were correct in proposing exaptation as a missing term in evolutionary biology. I want to make a distinction between adaptation and exaptation here. Again it is about mechanistic differences. An exaptation can be viewed as the acquisition of a new and...2000, Gabriel A. Dover, Dear Mr. Darwin: Letters on the Evolution of Life and Human Nature, University of California Press, page 226
(broadly) The promotion of meaningless or redundant material so that it does new grammatical (morphosyntactic or phonological) or semantic work.
- The process Haiman focuses on is exaptation, which he defines as "the promotion of meaningless or redundant material so that it does new grammatical (morphosyntactic or phonological) or semantic work" (p52).2017, Eric Haeberli, Review of Ledgeway & Roberts (eds.) (2017), Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax, Journal of Historical Syntax, Volume 3, Article 4, 2019, PDF edition page 2

exaptation meaning in Tamil

exaptation in Tamil

மருவிய தகவமைப்பு

Examples of exaptation in a sentence

I believe that Stephen Gould and Elizabeth Vrba were correct in proposing exaptation as a missing term in evolutionary biology.2000, Gabriel A. Dover, Dear Mr. Darwin: Letters on the Evolution of Life and Human Nature, University of California Press, page 226:
These presumed exaptations can be assigned to major categories associated with theories of movement (Nathan et al. 2008).2013, John H. Rappole, The Avian Migrant: The Biology of Bird Migration, Columbia University Press, page 22:
An interesting consequence of this way of characterizing exaptations is that whether or not a trait counts as an exaptation depends upon how we describe it.2013, Heather Dyke, James MacLaurin, “30: Evolutionary Explanations of Temporal Experience”, in Adrian Bardon, Heather Dyke, editors, A...

Forms of exaptation

plural	exaptations

Origin of exaptation

Blend of ex- + adaptation. Coined 1982 by palaeontologists Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba to avoid the perceived teleological baggage of the existing term preadaptation.

Words formed from exaptation

exaptational

Words that rhyme with exaptation

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about exaptation

What does exaptation mean?: Exaptation means the use of a biological structure or function for a purpose other than that for which it initially evolved.
What is exaptation in Tamil?: Exaptation in Tamil is மருவிய தகவமைப்பு. See Exaptation meaning in Tamil.
How do you use exaptation in a sentence?: I believe that Stephen Gould and Elizabeth Vrba were correct in proposing exaptation as a missing term in evolutionary biology.
What part of speech is exaptation?: Exaptation is a noun.
How do you pronounce exaptation?: Exaptation is pronounced /ˌɛk.səpˈteɪ.ʃən/ (UK).
What is the plural of exaptation?: The plural of exaptation is exaptations.

Words near exaptation in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: exaptation (page history and authors); exaptation (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “exaptation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/exaptation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.