vitalist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an adherent of vitalism, the doctrine that life cannot be explained entirely by physical and chemical processes

   The vitalist argued that organisms possess a principle absent from nonliving matter.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to or supporting the doctrine of vitalism

   The biologist rejected the older vitalist account of development.

Formed from vital + -ist. Vital comes through French and Latin vitalis ("of life"), from vita ("life"). The philosophical and biological label arose from vitalism, which posits a life principle not reducible to ordinary physical processes.

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