biology

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The science that studies living things such as plants and animals.

   She is studying biology at university.

2. 2
   noun

   The way the body of a living thing works.

   Scientists are learning more about the biology of the brain.

3. 3
   noun

   All the plant and animal life of a particular area.

   Pollution is damaging the biology of the lake.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Biology uses Greek bios, ‘life’, and -logy, a suffix for a field of study. The word is recorded from the late 17th century.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-der. Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor. New Latin -logia New Latin biologialbor. English biology Borrowed from New Latin biologia (1766), itself from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “bio-, life”) + -λογία (-logía, “-logy, branch of study, to speak”). By surface analysis, bio- + -logy. In English, first attested in the modern meaning in the work of English…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary