bio
1 Americanadjective
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biological.
a bio control service using praying mantises to reduce the population of garden pests.
-
a combining form meaning “life” occurring in loanwords from Greek (biography ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (bioluminescence ).
combining form
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indicating or involving life or living organisms
biogenesis
biolysis
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indicating a human life or career
biography
biopic
noun
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short for biography
Usage
What does bio- mean? The combining form bio- is used like a prefix meaning “life.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in biology.The form bio- comes from Greek bíos, meaning “life.” The Latin cognate of bíos is vīta, “life,” which is the source of words such as vital. Find out more at our entry for vital.What are variants of bio-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, bio- becomes bi-, as in biome. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article for bi-.
Etymology
Origin of bio1
1945–50; by shortening; as adj., independent use of bio-, taken as a free form
Origin of bio-2
Combining form of Greek bíos life; akin to Latin vīvus living, Sanskrit jīvas. See quick
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 her bio on X, she has worked for numerous publications.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Savannah Guthrie joined “Today” as a co-host in 2011, according to her bio on the show’s website.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
As she points out in her professional bio, it was movies and TV that helped with her English vocabulary, especially the Disney sitcom “Lizzie McGuire.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
Jan Leike, a researcher at Anthropic who formerly worked at OpenAI and DeepMind, according to his X bio and website, left OpenAI in 2024 — also while sounding alarms over AI safety concerns.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026
Susan’s email was listed on the school’s website, next to her bio.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
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.