Weismannian

Weismannian adjective: of or relating to August Weismann (1834–1914), German evolutionary biologist.

Adjective

Weismannian (not comparable)

Of or relating to August Weismann (1834–1914), German evolutionary biologist.
- It appears to the writer that [Oscar] Riddle attacks very successfully the de Vriesian interpretation of these phenomena. Unfortunately, however, he utterly confuses Mendelian facts with de Vriesian and Weismannian theories—hypotheses, rather, and attempts to throw both facts and hypotheses out of...1910 February, W[illiam] J[asper] Spillman, “The Mendelian View of Melanin Formation”, in The American Naturalist […], volume XLIV, number 518, Lancaster, Pa.; Garrison, N.Y.; New York, N.Y.: The...
- However, while the particle hypothesis is not disproved, I have no doubt that the Weismannian, and perhaps also the De Vriesian conception of the genes will seem less and less plausible as new facts accumulate.1910 April 23, George Harrison Shull, “Germinal Analysis through Hybridization”, in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society […], volume XLIX, number 196, Philadelphia, Pa.: American...

Weismannian (plural Weismannians)

An adherent of the views of August Weismann (1834–1914), German evolutionary biologist.
- Secondly, it must be frankly admitted that in many instances in which acquired characters have been said to be inherited or might be expected to be inherited, the Weismannians have shown that nevertheless there is no such inheritance.1896–1898, James Ward, “Lecture X: Biological Evolution”, in Naturalism and Agnosticism […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., published 1899, →OCLC...
- The Embryologists protest that the Weismannians and the Cytologists have gone too far. You claim too much. You are perilously near the old pre-formationists who thought they could detect the whole future organism in miniature within the egg.1909 February 12, William Patten, “[Charles] Darwin, the Emancipator of Science and Some Modern Phases of Organic Evolution”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN...

Unfortunately, however, he utterly confuses Mendelian facts with de Vriesian and Weismannian theories—hypotheses, rather, and attempts to throw both facts and hypotheses out of court.1910 February, W[illiam] J[asper] Spillman, “The Mendelian View of Melanin Formation”, in The American Naturalist […], volume XLIV, number...
Lamarckian, Darwinian, Weismannian, and Mendelian concepts and their transferability onto the “biology of the Jews” were hotly debated.2016, Veronika Lipphardt, “The Emancipatory Power of Heredity […]”, in Staffan Müller-Wille, Christina Brandt, editors, Heredity Explored...

From Weismann + -ian.

What does Weismannian mean?: Weismannian means of or relating to August Weismann (1834–1914), German evolutionary biologist.
How do you use Weismannian in a sentence?: Unfortunately, however, he utterly confuses Mendelian facts with de Vriesian and Weismannian theories—hypotheses, rather, and attempts to throw both facts and hypotheses out of court.
What part of speech is Weismannian?: Weismannian can be an adjective or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: Weismannian (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

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