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
Staff Author, PEOPLE, 2 May 2026
Meanwhile, the unceasing churn of clothing, footwear and accessories depletes soils, poisons the water, pollutes the air, drives deforestation, accelerates biodiversity loss and generates runaway planet-warming emissions that undermine brands’ lofty environmental ambitions.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 1 May 2026
The new woodland space is part of an effort to supply kids their own space to appreciate the biodiversity (and shade) of a native oak habitat.
—Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
In his new book, Levine argues that those styles can in fact emerge from normal biodiversity, just like many other traits.
—Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 1 May 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 5 May. 2026.
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biodiversity
noun
