biology

noun

by-AH-luh-jee/baɪˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/UKby-OL-uh-jee/baɪˈɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/

4 meanings of biology

1
noununcountable
The scientific study of living things and how they work.
Like a huge subject that explores every living thing, from tiny germs to giant trees.
She fell in love with biology after watching tadpoles grow legs.
Our teacher makes biology fun with hands-on experiments in the garden.
Note
2
noununcountable
The way a living thing is built, how it works, and how it acts.
Like an instruction manual for how a living thing is built and runs.
We learned about the biology of frogs and how their bodies stay cool.
A cat's biology lets it see well in very low light.
Note
3
noununcountable
All the living things found in one place or area.
Like a list of all the plants and animals that share one place.
The biology of the lake changed after the new fish were added.
Scientists studied the biology of the desert to see what lives there.
Similarbiota, wildlife, life

Less common meaning

4
nounarchaiccountable
A written account of a person's life story.
Like a book that tells the whole story of someone's life.
He wrote a short biology of his grandfather for the whole family.
The library kept an old biology of the town's founder behind glass.
Note

Practice

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Origin

Biology comes from New Latin biologia, made from Greek bíos meaning "life" and -logía meaning "study of." So it means the study of life.