Galton

American  

[gawl-tn] / ˈgɔl tn /

noun

1. Sir Francis, 1822–1911, English scientist and writer.

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Galton British  

/ ˈɡɔːltən /

noun

1. Sir Francis. 1822–1911, English explorer and scientist, a cousin of Charles Darwin, noted for his researches in heredity, meteorology, and statistics. He founded the study of eugenics and the theory of anticyclones

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Other Word Forms

• Galtonian adjective

Example Sentences

Galton was largely self-educated, an odd man who studied fingerprints and claimed to have proved through testing that praying doesn’t help matters.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2026

It’s a term coined by Charles Darwin’s cousin Francis Galton in 1883, though understanding the structure of the human genome came much later.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2026

Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the script was discovered by archivists at the Borthwick Institute for Archives who believe it may have been shelved due to time pressures.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025

The term “eugenics” was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton, who aimed to apply the findings of his cousin, Charles Darwin, to better society.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2025

In the mid-1860s, Galton began to study heredity.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee