Etymology

biodegradable

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Today it means: Capable of being decomposed by biological activity, especially by microorganisms. Full definition →

English degradable ← Ancient Greek βῐο- (bĭo-) ← Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  2. Ancient Greekβῐ́ος (bĭ́os)
  3. Ancient Greekβῐο- (bĭo-)
  4. Englishbio-
  5. Englishdegrade
  6. Englishdegradable
  7. English todaybiodegradable

From bio- + degradable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.