- indicating or involving life or living organisms: biogenesis, biolysis
- indicating a human life or career: biography, biopic
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
bio-, (before a vowel) bi- combining form
bi•o /ˈbaɪoʊ/USA pronunciation
n., pl. bi•os.
bio-, prefix.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Informal Terms biography:[countable][a bio on the first president of the countablery.]
- Informal Terms biology:[uncountable][I had a rough course in bio last term.]
bio-, prefix.
- bio- comes from Greek, where it has the meaning "life.'' This meaning is found in such words as: biodegradable, biology, biosphere.
bi•o
(bī′ō),USA pronunciation n., pl. bi•os, adj. [Informal.]
n.
adj.
bio-,
n.
- Informal Termsbiography.
- Informal Termsbiology.
adj.
- Informal Termsbiographical.
- Informal Termsbiological:a bio control service using praying mantises to reduce the population of garden pests.
- 1945–50; by shortening; as adjective, adjectival, independent use of bio-, taken as a free form
bio-,
- a combining form meaning "life'' occurring in loanwords from Greek (biography);
on this model, used in the formation of compound words (bioluminescence).
- akin to Latin vīvus living, Sanskrit jīvas. See quick combining form of Greek bíos life
'bio-' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
abiogenesis
- abiotrophy
- bee
- bi-
- biobank
- Bío-Bío
- biocoenology
- biodata
- biohacking
- bionics
- bionomics
- bio-organism
- biopic
- biopsy
- -biosis
- amphibious
- anabiosis
- bi
- bio
- bioacoustics
- bioactivity
- bioassay
- bioastronautics
- bioautography
- bioavailability
- biobehavioral
- biobibliography
- biocatalyst
- biocenosis
- biocentric
- biochemistry
- biocide
- bioclean
- bioclimatic
- bioclimatology
- biocompatibility
- biocontainment
- biocontrol
- bioconversion
- biocorrosion
- biocybernetics
- biodegradable
- biodeterioration
- biodrama
- biodynamics
- bioecology
- bioelectric
- bioelectrogenesis
- bioelectronics
- bioenergetics