1. a hypothetical primitive organism or the earliest form of life, especially in the context of abiogenesis or the origin of life on Earth
Usage: scientific; theoretical; rare

Examples

• Scientists theorize that eobionts may have emerged in Earth's primordial oceans billions of years ago.
• The concept of an eobiont helps researchers understand the transition from non-living chemistry to living systems.
• Early biochemists debated whether eobionts could have self-replicated without modern cellular machinery.
• The search for eobionts in the fossil record remains one of biology's greatest challenges.