Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Palingenesis \Pal`in*gen"e*sis\, Palingenesy \Pal`in*gen"e*sy\,
   n. [Gr. ?; ? again + ? birth: cf. F. paling['e]n['e]sie. See
   {Genesis}.]
   1. A new birth; a re-creation; a regeneration; a continued
      existence in different manner or form.

   2. (Biol.) That form of evolution in which the truly
      ancestral characters conserved by heredity are reproduced
      in development; original simple descent; -- distinguished
      from kenogenesis. Sometimes, in zo["o]logy, the abrupt
      metamorphosis of insects, crustaceans, etc.

Source : WordNet®

palingenesis
     n : emergence during embryonic development of various characters
         or structures that appeared during the evolutionary
         history of the strain or species [syn: {recapitulation}]
         [ant: {cenogenesis}]
     [also: {palingeneses} (pl)]