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biological

Etymology and origin of the English word biological

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1840

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɒdʒ.ɪ.kəl/, US /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɑː.dʒɪ.kəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from biology and the suffix -ical.[2][3][4] Biology was borrowed in 1819 from German Biologie, also used by Lamarck in 1802, from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) and -λογία (-logía, “study”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pertaining to the science of life: 1840 in Etymonline,[2] 1859 in the OED and Barnhart;[6][5] MWU dates its first known use to 1818.[4]

Semantic evolution

The shorter biologic is from 1850.[2] Combinations such as biological assay are from 1897 in the OED,[6] and the noun biological, a drug or other product made from living organisms, chiefly in the plural after chemicals, from 1921.[6][7] Biological warfare is attested from 1946.[2] The biological clock, an innate mechanism regulating the cycles of living things, is from 1955, and only from about 1991 especially of human reproductive urges.[2] The sense related by blood, as a biological parent as opposed to an adoptive one, is in the AHD.[7] A biological detergent contains enzymes said to remove organic stains.[8]

Timeline

  • 1818 – first known use, according to MWU.[4]
  • 1840 – of the science of life.[2]
  • 1921 – a biological product, as a noun.[6]
  • 1946 – biological warfare.[2]
  • 1955 – biological clock.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to, or affecting life or living organisms.
  2. Of or relating to biology.
  3. Related by blood: biological parents.
  4. Of a detergent, containing enzymes.

Noun

  1. A drug or vaccine made from living organisms or their products.

Word family

  • biologically
  • abiological
  • nonbiological
  • prebiological
  • pseudobiological
  • unbiological
  • biological control
  • biological oxygen demand
  • biology
  • biologist
  • bio-

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Biological.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/biological. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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