biosphere
Americannoun
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the part of the earth's crust, waters, and atmosphere that supports life.
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the ecosystem comprising the entire earth and the living organisms that inhabit it.
noun
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The parts of the land, sea, and atmosphere in which organisms are able to live. The biosphere is an irregularly shaped, relatively thin zone in which life is concentrated on or near the Earth's surface and throughout its waters.
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All the Earth's ecosystems considered as a single, self-sustaining unit.
Synonym Usage
See ecosystem ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of biosphere
First recorded in 1895–1900; from German Biosphäre; see bio-, -sphere
Explanation
A biosphere is a place where organisms live. You wouldn't want to travel beyond the earth's biosphere, unless of course you are an astronaut. From the Greek bios, "life," and sphaira, "sphere," biosphere came into English use in the 19th century. It means the life that occurs within a certain sphere or region around a planet. If you're reading this from Mars you probably have a biosphere all your own. You and other living things on Earth need oxygen and other substances to survive, and the biosphere fulfills those needs.
Vocabulary lists containing biosphere
Words to Live By: Bio
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Weather and Climate - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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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.
"Oh no! There's plenty of work," the 55-year-old told AFP, speaking over the drone of a conveyor line at his new employer, households goods producer Biosphere.
From Barron's • May 13, 2026
Wolf, whose previous nonfiction films include “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell,” about the avant-garde musician, and “Spaceship Earth,” about the artificial ecosystem Biosphere 2, is 43 years old.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2025
Mangroves have been replanted in the Cần Giờ Biosphere Reserve near Ho Chi Minh City, but their restoration took decades.
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2025
"We can now show how lower-level rules of life feed into these higher levels based on ecological interactions and evolutionary considerations," said Elena Litchman, a senior staff scientist at Carnegie's Biosphere Sciences and Engineering division.
From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2024
In the mid-1990s the Mexican government paved a road to the site, which is now the center of the 1.7-million-acre Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
