n. [ Pan- + Gr. &unr_; a seed. ] (Biol.) (a) The doctrine of the widespread distribution of germs, from which under favorable circumstances bacteria, vibrios, etc., may develop. (b) The doctrine that all organisms must come from living parents; biogenesis; -- the opposite of spontaneous generation. (c) The theory that life on earth originated from spores or germs that evolved elsewhere in the uiniverse; -- in contradistinction to the theory that life evolved on earth from inanimate matter. This theory, originally suggested by S. Arrhenius in 1907, is sometimes advanced by those who feel that the time required for evolution of life is too long for life to have evolved on Earth from inanimate matter. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]