biological

or bi·o·log·ic

[ bahy-uh-loj-i-kuh l or bahy-uh-loj-ik ]

/ ˌbaɪ əˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl or ˌbaɪ əˈlɒdʒ ɪk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR biological ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to biology.

of or relating to the products and operations of applied biology: a biological test.

noun

Pharmacology. any substance, as a serum or vaccine, derived from animal products or other biological sources and used to treat or prevent disease.

Nearby words

biol., biolinguistics, biologic, biologic assay, biologic evolution, biological, biological accumulation, biological child, biological clock, biological control, biological engineering

Origin of biological

First recorded in 1855–60; biolog(y) + -ical

Related forms

bi·o·log·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·bi·o·log·i·cal, adjectivenon·bi·o·log·i·cal·ly, adverbpseu·do·bi·o·log·i·cal, adjective

pseu·do·bi·o·log·i·cal·ly, adverbsem·i·bi·o·log·ic, adjectivesem·i·bi·o·log·i·cal, adjectivesem·i·bi·o·log·i·cal·ly, adverbun·bi·o·log·i·cal, adjectiveun·bi·o·log·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for biological

Eating disorders, on the other hand, are driven largely by biological processes that occur on the inside.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We also have a growing body of biological research showing that fathers, like mothers, are hard-wired to care for children.
How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Gender roles exceed the biological circumstances of childbirth and they are, perhaps, much less likely to change.
Men Will Someday Have Kids Without Women|Samantha Allen|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Imagining novels as biological specimens creates a crazed and mythic zoology of hybrids, beasts, mutants, and aberrations.
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It stands for the proposition that the biological basis of procreation should also be the sole organizing principle of society.
Is Pope Francis Backpedaling on Gays?|Jay Michaelson|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The time required for biological processes to be completed and for any biological effects to develop.
Atoms, Nature, and Man|Neal O. Hines
The physical laws may explain the inorganic world; the biological laws may account for the development of the organic.
Q. E. D., or New Light on the Doctrine of Creation|George McCready Price
To seize, master, and possess is an instinct inbred by the biological process.
Ethics|John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts
The conviction that is softened by an historic sense or by use of the terms of biological evolution, meets the same difficulty.
The Unpopular Review, Number 19|Various
The latter view is in accord with biological and historical science.
Outlines of Educational Doctrine|John Frederick Herbart

British Dictionary definitions for biological

biological

archaic biologic

/ (ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl) /

adjective

of or relating to biology

(of a detergent) containing enzymes said to be capable of removing stains of organic origin from items to be washed

noun

(usually plural) a drug, such as a vaccine, that is derived from a living organism

Derived Forms

biologically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for biological

biological

[ bī′ə-lŏj′ĭ-kəl ]

adj.

Of, relating to, caused by, or affecting life or living organisms.

Having to do with biology.

Related by blood, as in a child's biological parents.