Word.ws English Dictionary

preformation

UK/pɹiːfɔːˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/

preformation noun: prior formation.

Noun

preformation (countable and uncountable, plural preformations)

  1. Prior formation.
  2. (historical) The theory that organisms are fully developed in the form of an egg or seed, and just increase in size (as opposed to epigenesis).
    • Preformation, as even Aristotle spotted, merely postpones the problem, for how did the homunculus get its shape?1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 174

preformation meaning in Tamil and Kannada

preformation in Tamil

முன்னமைவு, முன்னுருவாக்கம்

preformation in Kannada

ಪೂರ್ವರೂಪಣ, ಮೊದಲೇ ರೂಪಿಸುವುದು

Forms of preformation

pluralpreformations
alternative formpraeformation

Origin of preformation

From pre- + formation.

Words formed from preformation

Questions about preformation

What does preformation mean?
Preformation means prior formation.
What is preformation in Tamil?
Preformation in Tamil is முன்னமைவு, முன்னுருவாக்கம். See Preformation meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is preformation?
Preformation is a noun.
How do you pronounce preformation?
Preformation is pronounced /pɹiːfɔːˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/ (UK).
What is the plural of preformation?
The plural of preformation is preformations.

Words near preformation in the dictionary

  1. preformalin
  2. preformance
  3. preformant
  4. preformants
  5. preformat
  6. preformation
  7. preformationary
  8. preformationism
  9. preformationist
  10. preformationists
  11. preformations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preformation (page history and authors); preformation (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); preformation (Kannada 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.

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