Main Entry: Gaia
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek, Gaea
Date: 1975
: the hypothesis that the living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system in such a way that the living component regulates and maintains conditions (as the temperature of the ocean or composition of the atmosphere) so as to be suitable for life; also : this system regarded as a single organism
Main Entry: Gaia Function: noun Etymology: Greek, Gaea Date: 1975 : the hypothesis that the living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system in such a way that the living component regulates and maintains conditions (as the temperature of the ocean or composition of the atmosphere) so as to be suitable for life; also : this system regarded as a single organism