The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. A theory of heredity proposed by Charles Darwin in which gemmules containing hereditary information from every part of the body coalesce in the gonads and are incorporated into the reproductive cells.
n. A mechanism for heredity proposed by Charles Darwin long before the true mechanism was discovered, according to which the cells of the body shed "gemmules" which collect in the reproductive organs prior to fertilization.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. An hypothesis advanced by Darwin in explanation of heredity.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A provisional hypothesis advanced by Darwin to explain the phenomena of reproduction in organisms.
Word Usage
"The main inducement leading to the original formu - lation of the idea of pangenesis was the ancients 'rec - ognition that many single characters of the organism can vary quite independently of the rest and can be separately transmitted to offspring."