emboitement

1 definition found

emboitement - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Emboitement \Em`bo[^i]te"ment`\, n. [F., fr. embo[^i]ter to fit
     in, insert; en in + bo[^i]te box.] (Biol.)
     The hypothesis that all living things proceed from
     pre["e]xisting germs, and that these encase the germs of all
     future living things, inclosed one within another. --Buffon.
     [1913 Webster]