biodiversity
noun
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Biodiversity may become the rallying call for the next decade, wrote David Wake in the journal Science in 1989. Indeed, biodiversity is a word you're likely to encounter in writing about ecology and the environment today. But when Wake used it, "biodiversity" was still a relatively new addition to the English language, having first appeared in writing in the mid-1980s. Of course, the roots of biodiversity are much older. It evolved from a commingling of the descendants of the Greek noun bios, which means "mode of life," and the Latin verb divertere, which means "to turn aside" or "to go different ways."
Examples of biodiversity in a Sentence
Jenny Lehmann, Discover Magazine, 14 Feb. 2025
And this continent has the world's highest rate of extinction for mammals in general, having lost some 35% of its unique biodiversity since the 1500s.
—New Atlas, 6 Feb. 2025
Earlier this month, relentless 90-mile-an-hour Santa Ana winds sent wildfires tearing through Greater Los Angeles, taking more than two dozen lives, flattening neighborhoods and decimating biodiversity.
—Anna Fiorentino, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025
More than just a visual record, these images serve as urgent calls to action, reminding us that the health of biodiversity is inseparable from the health of our oceans and, ultimately, the survival of life on Earth.
—Photovogue, Vogue, 29 Jan. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near biodiversity
Cite this Entry
“Biodiversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodiversity. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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biodiversity
noun
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