Dictionary
de•dif•fer•en•ti•a•tion
Pronunciation: (dē-dif"u-ren"shē-ā'shun), [key]—
n. Biol.
a process by which structures or behaviors that were specialized for a specific function lose their specialization and become simplified or generalized.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.