Etymology

uniformitarianism

Today it means: The scientific principle that natural laws and processes operated in the past in the same way and at the same rates that they operate today, and sometimes in the same way everywhere in the universe as well. Full definition →

First used 19th c.
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The story

From uniformitarian + -ism, coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1837.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. The scientific principle that natural laws and processes operated in the past in the same way and at the same rates that they operate today, and sometimes in the same way everywhere in the universe as well.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.