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
Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
The study underscores the threat extreme heat poses to birds in tropical regions and helps explain why birds are dying even in remote and protected areas, typically considered havens of biodiversity.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2025
Fishing has been seasonally banned in this area in order to protect biodiversity and maintain a healthy fish population, but driven by economic need, many local fishers defy these restrictions, continuing to fish in secret while enforcement remains difficult.
—Amber X. Chen, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 July 2025
The environmental benefits—think habitat, animal food source, and biodiversity—greatly outweigh the challenge of seven to 14 days of sneezing and sniffles.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for biodiversity
Cite this Entry
“Biodiversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodiversity. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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biodiversity
noun
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