Meanings
- uncountableevolutionary theoryA process by which heritable traits conferring survival and reproductive advantage to individuals, or related individuals, tend to be passed on to succeeding generations and become more frequent in a population, whereas other less favourable traits tend to become eliminated; the differential survival and reproduction of phenotypes.
Yes, there were hundreds of companies in existence, but a form of natural selection was taking place. Weaker companies were swallowed up by larger ones.
2024 July 24, Richard Foster, “Rail reform has never been easy”, in RAIL, number 1014, page 281 more example
I believe that a careful consideration of the structure of a species, and of the peculiar physical and organic conditions by which it is surrounded, or has been surrounded in past ages, will often, as in this case, throw much light on the origin of its habits and instincts. These again, combined with changes in external conditions, react upon structure, and by means of "variation" and "natural selection", both are kept in harmony.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 419 - colloquialoffensivesometimesuncountableA process by which poor individual choices or attributes naturally, or rightfully, lead to poor outcomes, especially death.
Lead singer “Hooch” tries hard to be offensive, telling the crowd he'd like to set some hippies and homeless people on fire, promoting drunk driving as “natural selection at work,’
2006 September 21, Jessica Smith, “Rockabilly’s ‘greatest bill ever’ goes from great to worse”, in The Martlet, volume 59, number 7, page 151 more example
“He should of looked left or right or at least used the crossing up the road, I have no sympathy it’s natural selection at it’s finest. Let’s hope the parents clear off back to their own country now”
2023 May 27, Jess Knopp, Katie Parker, “Is this the angriest town in Britain?”, in East Anglia Bylines
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Coined by British biologist Charles Darwin in 1859 in his work On the Origin of Species.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِنْتِقَاءٌ طَبِيعِيّ
- اِنْتِقَاءٌ طَبِيعِيّ (intiqāʔun ṭabīʕiyy)natural selection
Catalan selecció natural
- selecció naturalnatural selection
Chinese Cantonese 自然選擇 /自然选择, 天擇 /天择
- 自然選擇 /自然选择 (zi⁶ jin⁴ syun² zaak⁶)natural selection
- 天擇 /天择 (tin¹ zaak⁶)natural selection
Chinese Mandarin 自然選擇 /自然选择, 天擇 /天择
- 自然選擇 /自然选择 (zìrán xuǎnzé)natural selection
- 天擇 /天择 (tiānzé)natural selection
Czech přírodní výběr
- přírodní výběrnatural selection
Danish naturlig selektion
- naturlig selektionnatural selection
Dutch natuurlijke selectie
- natuurlijke selectienatural selection
Esperanto natura selektado
- natura selektadonatural selection
Finnish luonnonvalinta
- luonnonvalintanatural selection
French sélection naturelle
- sélection naturellenatural selection
German natürliche Selektion, natürliche Auslese
- natürliche Selektionnatural selection
- natürliche Auslesenatural selection
- natürliche Zuchtwahlnatural selection
Greek φυσική επιλογή
- φυσική επιλογή (fysikí epilogí)natural selection
Hebrew ברירה טבעית
- ברירה טבעיתnatural selection
Hindi प्राकृतिक वरण
- प्राकृतिक वरण (prākŕtik varaṇ)natural selection
Hungarian természetes kiválasztódás
- természetes kiválasztódásnatural selection
Icelandic náttúruval
- náttúruvalnatural selection
Indonesian seleksi alami
- seleksi alaminatural selection
Italian selezione naturale
- selezione naturalenatural selection
Japanese 自然選択, 自然淘汰
- 自然選択natural selection
- 自然淘汰natural selection
Korean 자연선택, 자연도태
- 자연선택 (jayeonseontaek)natural selection
- 자연도태 (jayeondotae)natural selection
Latvian dabiskā izlase
- dabiskā izlasenatural selection
Lithuanian natūrali̇̀ atrankà
- natūrali̇̀ atrankànatural selection
Malay pemilihan semula jadi, pemilihan alamiah
- pemilihan semula jadinatural selection
- pemilihan alamiahnatural selection
Māori whiringa māori
- whiringa māorinatural selection
Norwegian Bokmål naturlig seleksjon, naturlig utvalg
- naturlig seleksjonnatural selection
- naturlig utvalgnatural selection
Polish dobór naturalny, selekcja naturalna
- dobór naturalnynatural selection
- selekcja naturalnanatural selection
Portuguese seleção natural
- seleção naturalnatural selection
Romanian selecție naturală
- selecție naturalănatural selection
Russian есте́ственный отбо́р
- есте́ственный отбо́р (jestéstvennyj otbór)natural selection
Slovak prirodzený výber
- prirodzený výbernatural selection
Spanish selección natural
- selección naturalnatural selection
Swedish naturligt urval
- naturligt urvalnatural selection
Tagalog piliang likas
- piliang likasnatural selection
Thai การคัดเลือกโดยธรรมชาติ
- การคัดเลือกโดยธรรมชาติ (gaan-kát-lʉ̂ʉak-dooi-tam-má-châat)natural selection
Turkish doğal seçilim, natürel seleksiyon
- doğal seçilimnatural selection
- natürel seleksiyonnatural selection
Ukrainian приро́дний добі́р, приро́дний відбі́р
- приро́дний добі́р (pryródnyj dobír)natural selection
- приро́дний відбі́р (pryródnyj vidbír)natural selection
Vietnamese chọn lọc tự nhiên
- chọn lọc tự nhiênnatural selection
Welsh detholiad naturiol
- detholiad naturiolnatural selection
Yiddish נאַטירלעכע סעלעקציע
- נאַטירלעכע סעלעקציע (natirlekhe selektsye)natural selection
Cite this entry
natural selection. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/natural%20selection
“natural selection.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/natural%20selection. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “natural selection,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/natural%20selection.
Source: natural selection on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.