Meanings
nounadaptationist (plural adaptationists)
plural adaptationists
- A supporter of adaptationism.
Until one is clear about just what one means by adaptationism, what evidence one needs to accuse someone of being an "adaptationist" will remain vague; this rather diminishes the force of the accusation.
2006, Massimo Pigliucci, Jonathan Michael Kaplan, Making Sense of Evolution: The Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago Press
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
- Proto-Italic*ad
- Proto-Italic*ad-
- Latinad-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ptós
- Proto-Italic*aptos
- Latinaptus
- Proto-Indo-European[Term?]
- Proto-Italic*apjō
- Latinapiō
- Latinaptō
- Latinadaptō
- Medieval Latinadaptātiō
- Frenchadaptation
- Englishadaptation
- Englishadaptationist
From adaptation + -ist.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Portuguese adaptacionista
- adaptacionistasupporter of adaptationism
Cite this entry
APA
adaptationist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adaptationist
MLA
“adaptationist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adaptationist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “adaptationist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adaptationist.
Source: adaptationist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.