xenobiology

English
WOTD – 28 May 2007

Etymology

xeno- +‎ biology. Sometimes attributed to science-fiction author Robert A. Heinlein.[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌzɛnəʊbaɪˈɒlədʒi/, /ˌziːnəʊbaɪˈɒlədʒi/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈziːnoʊbaɪˌɑːlədʒi/, /ˌzɛnoʊbaɪˈɑːlədʒi/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

xenobiology (uncountable)

  1. The speculative biology of extraterrestrial life forms.
    Synonyms: astrobiology, exobiology
  2. The biology of life forms with non-standard biochemistry or codes.

Translations

Further reading

References
  1. Harold Wooster (21 July 1961), “Xenobiology”, in Science, volume 134, issue 3473, DOI:10.1126/science.134.3473.223, JSTOR 1708323, PMID 17818726, pages 223–225
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.