biologist
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of biologist
Explanation
A biologist is a scientist who focuses on living organisms, including plants and animals. Wildlife biologists might specialize in studying African elephants. Biologists study a wide variety of life forms, from single-celled organisms to primates, and conduct research in many different areas, from the spreading of pathogens to the details of evolution. A marine biologist studies sea creatures and a microbiologist might study algae or bacteria. The word biologist is rooted in the Greek bios, or "life."
Vocabulary lists containing biologist
"Siberian Survivors" and "Tigers in the Wild"
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: bio
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Unit 18, Lesson 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to biologist Raul Gonzalez Ittig of the scientific research agency Conicet, cases in Argentina may be linked to the El Nino phenomenon.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
I think Santiago Schnell, the new provost at Dartmouth is a really special guy and he’s a quantitative biologist, which is a hard thing to think about.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
But Bill Sutherland, a biologist at the University of Cambridge, has found that some dogma in conservation is flat-out wrong when put to the test.
From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026
Detectives enlisted help from a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist to review the video, and they agreed it was clearly a human in a bear suit.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026
For William Bateson, the English biologist, the conversion took about an hour—the time spent on a speeding train between Cambridge and London in May 1900.*
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.