what does preformation mean?

PREFORMATION as NOUN

Meaning
- a theory (popular in the 18th century and now discredited) that an individual develops by simple enlargement of a tiny fully formed organism (a homunculus) that exists in the germ cell
Synonym(s)
- theory of preformation (what does theory of preformation mean?)
Hypernyms(s) preformation is a kind of… Example: animal is a hypernym of mammal, plant is a hypernym of flower
- theory (what does theory mean?)
Derived(s)
- preform (what does preform mean?)