exogenesis
Etymology
From exo- + -genesis.
exogenesis means the theory that life on Earth is of extraterrestrial origin. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “exogenesis” is a great word
EXOGENESIS — [Noun] The theory that life, or its fundamental building blocks, originated from sources external to its current planetary environment. From the combining form exo- (from Greek ἔξω, meaning "outside") + -genesis (from Greek γένεσις, meaning "origin, creation"). First attested in the 1900s. Unlike abiogenesis, which details life's earthly emergence from inanimate matter, or endogenesis, which implies a strictly internal beginning, exogenesis posits a cosmic provenance. It is the bacterial spore preserved within a meteorite, the complex amino acid seeded from a comet's tail, and the silent drift of molecular blueprints across interstellar dust—a humbling theory that renders every living thing a permanent immigrant from a forgotten stellar home.
noun
- The theory that life on Earth is of extraterrestrial origin.“Panspermia, one possible form of exogenesis, is the notion that the seeds of life are scattered throughout the universe.”
- External origin.“In later development, the merozoites assume a peripheral location and grow outward at the surface, with the limiting membrane of the mother meront forming the outer membrane of the merozoite, as in exogenesis.”