abiotic
Americanadjective
-
Not associated with or derived from living organisms. Abiotic factors in an environment include such items as sunlight, temperature, wind patterns, and precipitation.
-
Compare biotic
Other Word Forms
- abiotically adverb
Etymology
Origin of abiotic
Compare meaning
How does abiotic compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
In science, anything abiotic is not alive. Abiotic factors in an ecosystem are things like temperature, ocean currents, and humidity. Abiotic elements play an important role in the world, in a variety of ways. Everything that isn't living, and never was living, is considered abiotic—from the sand on the beach and boulders on a mountain to the sunlight from above and the mineral makeup of the soil beneath your feet. Abiotic comes from the prefix a-, "without," and biotic, "pertaining to life."
Vocabulary lists containing abiotic
Organisms and Environments 1: The Environment
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The ACT Science Test: Earth Science Review
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Bio
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
The results show that biotic interactions can have a strong influence on plants' ability to adapt to abiotic factors and that adaptation is most efficient when plants are exposed to a variety of interactions.
From Science Daily • Jun. 19, 2024
Jones noted that there is growing interest in studying the heat tolerance and acclimation capacity of ectotherms in the face of changing abiotic conditions such as ambient temperature.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2024
“This is the first sign of an abiotic source,” says Nora Hänni, a chemist at the University of Bern who presented the discovery last week at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union.
From Science Magazine • Apr. 26, 2024
This new AI technique works by recognizing patterns across the composition of various samples and categorizing them as living or nonliving based on what it "knows" about patterns of biotic or abiotic objects.
From Salon • Sep. 26, 2023
Thus, mineral nutrients are cycled, either rapidly or slowly, through the entire biosphere between the biotic and abiotic world and from one living organism to another.
From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013
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.
