teleonomy.

The apparent purposefulness of living structures or functions arising from evolutionary adaptation rather than conscious design.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• biological teleonomy
• teleonomy of adaptation
• teleonomy and teleology

On the page

The biologist used teleonomy to discuss the apparent purpose of the plant's light-seeking growth.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable; plural teleonomies for distinct forms or accounts. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW explicitly specifies apparent purposefulness derived from evolutionary adaptation; not conscious design. Plural teleonomies verified. Writing functions: analysis, conceptual distinction.