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biodegradable

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Etymology and origin of the English word biodegradable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1959 L. Klein, River Pollution More words from the 20th century
Ultimate origins
Latin bio-English degradable

Pronunciation

  • US: /(ˌ)baɪoʊdəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/, /(ˌ)baɪədəˈɡɹeɪdəbl̩/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English bio- + degradable,[2][3] after biodegradation, recorded from 1941.[2] Etymonline, the Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com analyse it instead as bio- with degrade and -able.[4][5][6] The OED notes that the verb biodegrade is slightly later (1961),[2] and the simple adjective degradable is recorded only from 1963.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to be broken down by living organisms, especially bacteria: about 1959, in L. Klein's River Pollution, of refuse and pollutants.[2] Merriam-Webster also dates it to 1959,[3] Etymonline to 1962,[4] and Dictionary.com to 1960–65.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word arose in the study of water pollution, describing substances such as detergents and refuse that bacteria can decompose.[2][7] It belongs to a group of terms formed around 1960: biodegradability and biodegradation as nouns, and biodegrade, first used transitively of organisms breaking a substance down (1961) and then intransitively of the substance itself (1967).[2][5] Merriam-Webster stresses that the products of the breakdown are especially harmless ones, as with packaging or pesticides.[3]

Timeline

  • 1959 – able to be decomposed by living organisms.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able to be broken down into harmless substances by bacteria or other living organisms: Pack the parcels in biodegradable paper.[7][3][2]

Word family

  • biodegradability
  • biodegrade
  • biodegradation
  • nonbiodegradable

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Biodegradable.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/biodegradable. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·