adverb
- in a manner relating to or describing the development of an individual organism from conception to adulthood
Usage: technical; biology; developmental science
Examples
- The organism changes ontogenetically as it matures from embryo to adult.
- Ontogenetically, the nervous system develops before other major organ systems.
- These traits appear ontogenetically later in the organism's life cycle.
- The researchers studied how the species evolves ontogenetically during its growth stages.
- Ontogenetically speaking, the larval form differs significantly from the adult form.