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Origin and history of biology

biology(n.)

"the science of life and living things," 1819, from Greek bios "life, one's life, lifetime" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live;" see bio-) + -logy "study of." The compound was suggested 1802 by German naturalist Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, and introduced as a scientific term that year in French by Lamarck; the two seem to have hit upon the word independently.

also from 1819

Entries linking to biology

astrobiology(n.)

1903, from French astrobiologie; see astro- "star" + biology. Related: Astrobiological; astrobiologist.

biological(adj.)

"pertaining to the science of life," 1840, from biology + -ical. Biological clock, "innate mechanism that regulates cyclic activities of living things," is attested from 1955; not especially of human reproductive urges until c. 1991. Biological warfare is attested from 1946. Related: Biologically. Alternative adjective biologic is from 1850.

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receptor
Molecular biology sense is from 1900. Compare receiver....
procumbent
1660s, in biology, "unable to support itself, lying on the ground without putting forth roots," from Latin procumbentem (...
inarticulate
1600, "not clear or intelligible" (of speech); "not jointed or hinged, not composed of segments connected by joints" (in biology...
anamorphosis
In botany, "monstrous development of a part" (1830); in evolutionary biology, "gradual change of form in a species over time...
atavism
1833, in biology, "reversion by influence of heredity to ancestral characteristics, resemblance of a given organism to some...
hamadryad
Use in 19c. biology for a type of butterfly, a type of venomous Indian serpent, and a type of large hairy baboon....
optimum
In English the word was used originally in biology, in reference to "conditions most favorable" (for growth, metabolic processes...
flora
c. 1500, "Roman goddess of flowers;" 1777, "the plant life of a region or epoch," from Latin Flora, "goddess of flowers," from flos (accusative florem, genitive floris) "flower," from *flo-s-, Italic suffixed form of PIE *bhle- "to blossom, flourish" (source also of Middle Irish
physiology
1560s, "study and description of natural objects, natural philosophy" (a sense now obsolete), from French physiologie (16c.) or directly from Latin physiologia "natural science, study of nature," from Greek physiologia "natural science, inquiry into nature," from physios "nature"
accumulation
late 15c., "that which is heaped up, an accumulated mass," from Latin accumulationem (nominative accumulatio) "a heaping up," noun of action from past-participle stem of accumulare "to heap up, amass," from ad "to," here perhaps emphatic (see ad-), + cumulare "heap up," from cumu

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