- the entire sequence of events involved in the development of an individual organism
Compare phylogeny
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
on•tog•e•ny
(on toj′ə nē),USA pronunciation n. [Biol.]
on•to•ge•net•ic
(on′tə jə net′ik),USA pronunciation on′to•ge•net′i•cal, on′to•gen′ic, adj.
on′to•ge•net′i•cal•ly, on′to•gen′i•cal•ly, adv.
on•tog′e•nist, n.
- Developmental Biology, Biologythe development or developmental history of an individual organism.
- 1870–75; onto- + -geny
on•tog′e•nist, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
ontogeny /ɒnˈtɒdʒənɪ/, ontogenesis /ˌɒntəˈdʒɛnɪsɪs/ n
'ontogenetic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):