biodiversity
noun
Did you know?
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
Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025
The region’s deep commitment to biodiversity and artisanal traditions attracted the brand.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2025
Today’s tools are still far from fully capturing the extent and complexity of Earth’s biodiversity, and much of that could vanish before anyone catalogs it.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 29 Sep. 2025
The discovery adds to the biodiversity of the Narmada River system, where this species is the first of its genus to be found.
—Real-Time News Team, Miami Herald, 26 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 5 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
biodiversity
noun
Share