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
Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 22 Oct. 2025
China has become an amphibian biodiversity hotspot in recent years as 44 new amphibian species were discovered in 2022 and 31 were found the following year, representing around one third of all new amphibian discoveries in the world in each year.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2025
Eastman has also committed to adhering to all of Textile Exchange’s voluntary Materials Matter Standard, which includes criteria around climate, human rights and biodiversity.
—Sarah Jones, Sourcing Journal, 20 Oct. 2025
Borrowing a page from her neighbor to the west, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, Geerlings-Simons argues that oil receipts should underwrite biodiversity protection and climate resilience.
—Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Oct. 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 25 Oct. 2025.
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biodiversity
noun
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