Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “biosphere” come from?

Bio- comes from Ancient Greek βίο-, from Ancient Greek βίος meaning "life," from Proto-Indo-European gʷih₃wós, from the root gʷeih₃w-.

biosphere (English): The part of the Earth and its atmosphere capable...

Definitions

  1. The part of the Earth and its atmosphere capable...

Ancestry of “biosphere”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanBiosphäre—
2Ancient Greekσφαῖραball, globe, sphere
3Ancient Greek-ειδήςlike, connected to, from the nature of, full of;...
4Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
5Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
6Proto-Indo-European-ess—
7Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “biosphere”

  • biospheric
  • biospherian
  • abiosphere
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →