from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]