abiotic
/ˌeɪ.baɪˈɒt.ɪk/ IELTSAcademic
adjective
Abiotic means not living, or caused by things that are not alive. It is often used in science, especially in ecology and biology.
- Sunlight is an abiotic factor.
- Soil and water are abiotic parts of the habitat.
- Abiotic conditions affect plant growth.
Adinary Nuance
Abiotic is used in science to mean “non-living,” especially in ecology. It is not the same as “inorganic,” which is a chemistry word, or “dead,” which means once alive but no longer alive. Writers choose abiotic when they want to talk about things like sunlight, water, temperature, or rocks in a living environment.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- vô sinh
- Spanish
- abiótico
- Chinese
- 非生物的
- Japanese
- 非生物の
- Korean
- 무생물의
Etymology
Abiotic comes from Greek a- meaning “not” and biotic, from bios meaning “life.” It entered scientific English in the 20th century.
Common phrases
abiotic factorabiotic environmentabiotic stressabiotic conditions
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is abiotic the opposite of biotic?
- Yes. Abiotic means non-living, while biotic means living.
- Is abiotic used in everyday English?
- Not very often. It is mainly used in science and academic writing.
- Can I say abiotic about rocks and water?
- Yes. Rocks, water, air, and sunlight are abiotic things.