physiological
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to physiology
-
of or relating to normal healthful functioning; not pathological
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of physiological
First recorded in 1600–10; physiolog(y) + -ical
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How does physiological compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Anything physiological has to do with the body and its systems. You might notice that your physiological response to a scary movie includes your heart beating faster and your hands getting sweaty. You know that the root word of physiological is phys, which refers to the body (think of those phys. ed. classes you panted through). That root comes from the Greek word for nature. Add the suffix ology, which means "the study of" (see where we're going?), and finally, tack on that little ical. Ta-taa! You have turned the root into an adjective to describe the way your body works. Let's get physiological!
Vocabulary lists containing physiological
Silent Spring
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"Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry" by Rudolfo Anaya
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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
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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.
Even when the researchers tested a wide variety of possible physiological conditions, the models still could not account for why most dinosaurs outside the bird lineage were considerably larger than expected.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
"Heat stress might to feel like anxiety, they have the same physiological response," says Professor Ciara MaCabre, who works at the University of Reading and specialises in mental health.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Behavioral and physiological ecologist Ken Armitage, who died in 2022, began his marmot research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in 1962.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
She cited a federal statute authorizing the U.S. service academies to make “minimum essential adjustments” to their standards “because of physiological differences between male and female individuals.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
That is especially true at high altitudes in the Andes, where genetically European women have physiological difficulties even in reproducing, and where native Andean crops still offer the most suitable basis for food production.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
