SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Survival of the fittest

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/sərvˈaɪvəl əv ðə fˈɪtəst/ Listen

noun

Survival n.

A living or continuing longer than, or beyond the existence of, another person, thing, or event; an outliving.

(Arhaeol. & Ethnol.) Any habit, usage, or belief, remaining from ancient times, the origin of which is often unknown, or imperfectly known. "The close bearing of the doctrine of survival on the study of manners and customs."

Survival of the fittest. (Biol.) See Natural selection, under Natural.

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Etymology of 'Survival of the fittest'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Survival of the fittest" Quotes from Famous Books

... Chinaman liable to zymotic diseases died thousands of years ago, and that by the law of the survival of the fittest all Chinamen born now are immune from filth diseases; that they can drink sewage-water with impunity, and thrive under conditions which would kill any Europeans ...

— Here, There And Everywhere • Lord Frederic Hamilton

... justified was of course to get further support for that theory of evolution at large with which ... all my conceptions were bound up."[199] Instead of the metaphorical expression "natural selection," Spencer introduced the term "survival of the fittest," which found favour with Darwin as ...

— Evolution in Modern Thought • Ernst Haeckel

... They believe in a Supreme Being, whom they call the First Cause—that is the nearest English equivalent—and they recognize the existence of an immortal and unknowable life-principle, or soul. They believe that the First Cause has decreed the survival of the fittest as the fundamental law, which belief accounts for ...

— The Skylark of Space • Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby

... it may seem, Samuel had never before heard the phrase, "the survival of the fittest." And so now he was living over the experience of the thinking world of fifty or sixty years ago. What a marvelous generalization it was! What a range of life it covered! And how obvious it seemed—one could think of a hundred things, perfectly well known, which fitted into it. And yet he had never ...

— Samuel the Seeker • Upton Sinclair

... building if you try; you don't know enough. What a grand harmony there is just here? We theologians would advise "natural selection to be present with such instructors as thus advise us, and continue with them long enough, at least, to reject the worst from the school and give us a blessing in the survival of the fittest, for we would like to know our duty." So much ...

— The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, - Volume I, No. 9. September, 1880 • Various

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