Relating to or based on the theories of Charles Darwin, especially the idea that living things evolve through natural selection.
From Darwin (Charles Darwin, 19th-century naturalist) + -istic (suffix meaning 'of or relating to'). The term emerged in the late 1800s as Darwin's evolutionary theory became widely discussed and debated.
Darwin didn't actually invent the idea of evolution—other naturalists had similar thoughts—but he provided the mechanism (natural selection) that explained HOW it works, which is why so many scientific and philosophical ideas got labeled 'darwinistic' even when they went way beyond what Darwin actually said.
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