What phrase did Darwin use to describe the process of species change instead of 'evolution'?

Darwin described species change as “descent with modification.”

The phrase expresses two connected ideas: living organisms inherit traits from earlier generations, and those traits can change over time. In Darwin’s view, populations gradually diverge from common ancestors, producing the branching pattern of life represented in his famous tree metaphor.

Darwin used the expression extensively in On the Origin of Species, first published in 1859. He linked descent with modification to natural selection, the process by which inherited variations that improve survival or reproduction become more common in populations. He did not yet know about genes or DNA, so his explanation lacked the modern genetic account of inheritance.

“Evolution” is now the standard scientific term, but it was not Darwin’s preferred phrase in the first edition of the Origin. The alternatives in the quiz are related but not equivalent: common descent describes shared ancestry, natural selection is a mechanism, and “survival of the fittest” was coined by Herbert Spencer rather than Darwin. Darwin’s phrase emphasizes inherited continuity plus change.