Abiogenesis
Pronunciation : Ab`i*o*gen"e*sis
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [Gr. (Biol.)
Definition : Defn: The supposed origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents; spontaneous generation; -- called also abiogeny, and opposed to biogenesis. I shall call the . . . doctrine that living matter may be produced by not living matter, the hypothesis of abiogenesis. Huxley, 1870.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913