Coined by E. Hæckel in 1866 and used by Charles Darwin in 1872 in the fifth edition of Origin of Species. “The genesis and evolution of the phylum, tribe, or species; ancestral or racial evolution of an animal or plant type, or of particular organs or other components of a plant or an animal.” (OED) This definition can be extended to include civilizations, corresponding to species, and concepts, corresponding to organs.
