Wordwyrt

biology

/baɪˈɒ.lə.d͡ʒi/bigh-O-luh-jee
/baɪˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/bigh-AH-luh-jee

Meaningthe study of life

Common meaning: the study of living things

‘life, way of living’ + ‘a word, saying’ → biology

Journey through time

  • bio — Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) “life, way of living” (path traced)
  • log — Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) “a word, saying; reckoning, reason” (path traced)
  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√GIW‘orig’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 102, p. 733 · scan
  2. Greekβίος (bíos) + λόγος (lógos)‘life, way of living + a word, saying’
  3. Englishbiology‘the study of living things’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) ‘life, way of living’ + Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) ‘a word, saying; reckoning, reason’.

Did you know (Greek logos meant…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry λόγος (lógos), p. 476 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Greek bios, "life",…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry βίος (bíos), p. 283 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app