English Explanatory Dictionary

biosphere

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The part of the Earth and its atmosphere capable of supporting life.
  2. The totality of living organisms and their environment.

Pronunciation

/ˈbaɪəʊˌsfɪə(ɹ)/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Rho9998-biosphere.wav

Word forms

biosphere biospheres

Etymology

Borrowed from German Biosphäre, coined by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in 1875. By surface analysis, bio- + -sphere.

Related words

biospheric biospherical

Derived words

abiosphere biospherian
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on B Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary