Meanings
- uncountableevolutionary theoryNatural selection.
Welcome to this urban life / Welcome to my city / Survival of the fittest / Is never very pretty
2025, Suzanne Vega, Gerry Leonard, “Rats”, in Flying with Angels1 more example
Slow though the process of selection may be, if feeble man can do much by artificial selection, I can see no limit to the amount of change, to the beauty and complexity of the coadaptations between all organic beings, one with another and with their physical conditions of life, which may have been effected in the long course of time through nature's power of selection, that is by the survival of the fittest.
1872, Charles Darwin, “Natural Selection; or the Survival of the Fittest”, in The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], 6th edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 85
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 English philosopher and political theorist Herbert Spencer in 1864 after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and used by Darwin himself in subsequent editions of that work. In the expression, fittest means “best fitted to the environment”, not “strongest, fastest, or most physically fit”.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 最適者生存 /最适者生存, 適者生存 /适者生存
- 最適者生存 /最适者生存 (zuìshìzhě shēngcún)natural selection
- 適者生存 /适者生存 (shìzhěshēngcún)natural selection
- 弱肉強食 /弱肉强食 (ruòròuqiángshí)natural selection
Finnish luonnonvalinta, taistelu olemassaolosta
- luonnonvalintanatural selection
- taistelu olemassaolostanatural selection
French survie du plus apte
- survie du plus aptenatural selection
German Überleben der Bestangepassten
- Überleben der Bestangepasstennatural selection
Irish seasamh na dtréan
- seasamh na dtréannatural selection
Japanese 適者生存
- 適者生存 (tekisha-seizon)natural selection
Latvian spēcīgāko izdzīvošana
- spēcīgāko izdzīvošananatural selection
Norwegian den sterkeste overlever
- den sterkeste overlevernatural selection
Polish przetrwanie najsilniejszych
- przetrwanie najsilniejszychnatural selection
Portuguese sobrevivência do mais apto, sobrevivência do mais forte
- sobrevivência do mais aptonatural selection
- sobrevivência do mais fortenatural selection
Russian выжива́ние сильне́йших
- выжива́ние сильне́йших (vyživánije silʹnéjšix)natural selection
Spanish supervivencia del más apto
- supervivencia del más aptonatural selection
Tagalog lighay ng pinakaangkop, matira matibay
- lighay ng pinakaangkopnatural selection
- matira matibaynatural selection
Cite this entry
survival of the fittest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/survival%20of%20the%20fittest
“survival of the fittest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/survival%20of%20the%20fittest. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “survival of the fittest,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/survival%20of%20the%20fittest.
Source: survival of the fittest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.