biology

Pronunciation

• IPA: /baɪˈɒləd͡ʒi/ (UK); /baɪˈɑləd͡ʒi/, /baɪˌɑl(ə)ˈd͡ʒi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Biologie, also used by Lamarck (French biologie) in 1802,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) (see bio-) and -logy.^[2][3] Etymonline notes that Treviranus in German and Lamarck in French seem to have coined it independently in 1802.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of human life and character: 1813, a sense now obsolete.^[2][5] MWU has 1799.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The science of living things is from 1819.^[2][5][3] In the 1870s biology was also a name for a kind of mesmerism, electro-biology.^[5] The biology of an organism, its life processes, follows.^[7] Biological is from 1859.^[2]

Timeline

• 1802 – German Biologie, French biologie.^[3]
• 1813 – the study of human life (obsolete).^[2][5]
• 1819 – the science of living things.^[2][5]
• 1859 – biological.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The science of living organisms, their structure, function, growth and evolution.
2. The life processes and characteristics of an organism or group.

Word family

• biologist

Related words

• biological
• biologic
• biologism
• bio-
• zoology
• botany

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins