Panspermia \Pan`sper"mi*a\, Panspermy \Pan"sper`my\, n. [Pan- +
   Gr. ? a seed.] (Biol.)
   (a) The doctrine of the widespread distribution of germs,
       from which under favorable circumstances bacteria,
       vibrios, etc., may develop.
   (b) The doctrine that all organisms must come from living
       parents; biogenesis; -- the opposite of spontaneous
       generation.
   (c) The theory that life on earth originated from spores or
       germs that evolved elsewhere in the uiniverse; -- in
       contradistinction to the theory that life evolved on
       earth from inanimate matter. This theory, originally
       suggested by S. Arrhenius in 1907, is sometimes advanced
       by those who feel that the time required for evolution of
       life is too long for life to have evolved on Earth from
       inanimate matter.
       [1913 Webster +PJC]