selection

/sə-ˈlek-shən/

noun

  1. the act or process of selecting : the state of being selected

  2. one that is selected : choice; also : a collection of selected things

  3. a natural or artificial process that results or tends to result in the survival and propagation of some individuals or organisms but not of others with the result that the inherited traits of the survivors are perpetuated

choice option alternative preference selection election mean the act or opportunity of choosing or the thing chosen. choice suggests the opportunity or privilege of choosing freely. option implies a power to choose that is specifically granted or guaranteed.

noun

  1. selective breeding

Even artificial selection is slow: it takes decades and acres of space to develop just one new cultivar.

noun

  1. a theory of natural selection which states that a usually altruistic behavior or attribute that lowers the fitness of a particular individual is selected for if it increases the probability of survival and reproduction of related kin who possess some or all of the same genes as the altruistic individual