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
M. Rajshekhar, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
While there is still a presence of biodiversity, there’s been an 85 to 99% decline of different species at the bottom of the lake, Chandra said.
—Amelia Wu, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Gauger’s journey from bottle service to biodiversity is dramatic, yet the larger drama belongs to communities that will feed themselves because a stranger on the internet taught them how.
—Jason Phillips, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
Indiana has rich biodiversity with thousands of species in unique habitats, but the ornamental plant trade, globalization and development have introduced new threats to these ecosystems.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 10 Sep. 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 13 Sep. 2025.
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biodiversity
noun
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