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
Ashlee Marie Preston, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
About 24% of those species are at risk of extinction, Catherine Sayer, lead of the freshwater biodiversity team for the IUCN, told ABC News.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 8 Jan. 2025
The lake is also a biodiversity hotspot that houses critical habitats and sustains migratory birds, while also supporting area jobs and $2.5 billion in economic activity.
—Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 7 Jan. 2025
What Happens Next Previous oil spills in the Kerch Strait, such as the 2007 spillage which damaged two tankers and killed 23 sailors, had impacts on biodiversity and marine life for years, according to Natalia Gozak, director of the Ukrainian office of Greenpeace.
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Biodiversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodiversity. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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biodiversity
noun
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