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
Taryn White, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Climate change and biodiversity loss, which both heighten the risk of extinction, are two such examples.
—Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
The Arctic Council, founded in 1996, attempted to bring Russia closer to the other seven Arctic countries and allow for tighter cooperation on issues such as biodiversity, climate and the protection of indigenous people’s rights.
—Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 21 Jan. 2026
The authors called for water to be recognized as both a constraint and an opportunity for meeting climate, biodiversity and land commitments.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biodiversity
Cite this Entry
“Biodiversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodiversity. Accessed 26 Jan. 2026.
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biodiversity
noun
