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適者生存 (tekishaseizon) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

適てき者しゃ生せい存ぞん

て

き

しゃ

せ

い

ぞ

ん

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

survival of the fittest

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)›

A yojijukugo used in biology, sociology, and business to describe natural selection or competitive survival.

自し然ぜん界かいでは適てき者しゃ生せい存ぞんの原げん理

り

が

働はたら

い

て

いる

。

In nature, the principle of survival of the fittest is at work.

ビジネスの世せ界かいも適てき者しゃ生せい存ぞんだ。

The business world is also survival of the fittest.

Kanji

適suitable, occasional, rare
者someone, person
生life, genuine, birth
存exist, suppose, be aware of

Related words

自し然ぜん淘とう汰た
自然淘汰 is the biological term 'natural selection', while 適者生存 is the resulting concept 'survival of the fittest'.

Built from

適てき者しゃ+生せい存ぞん

Etymology

A yojijukugo coined in the Meiji period as a translation of Herbert Spencer's phrase 'survival of the fittest', composed of 適者 (the fittest) and 生存 (survival).