Word of the Day

: April 22, 2008

biodiversity

noun bye-oh-duh-VER-suh-tee

What It Means

: biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals

biodiversity in Context

Today's tropical rainforests represent a treasure trove of biodiversity unmatched in any other environment.

Did You Know?

"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."